What is the name of your organization?
IEI Africa
What is the name of your solution?
PeDD App
Provide a one-line summary or tagline for your solution.
An AI App enabling rural farmers transition into export market producers using its integrated smart farming and climate resilience tools and services.
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
Kampala, Uganda
In what country is your solution team headquartered?
Uganda
What type of organization is your solution team?
Hybrid of for-profit and nonprofit
Film your elevator pitch.
What specific problem are you solving?
20-50% of agricultural yield losses in Africa are caused by pests and diseases (FAO, 2022). The invasive impact of alien pests and diseases in Africa's agricultural sector is $65.68 billion annually (CABI, 2021). To mitigate this, farmers are continually employing excessive use of pesticide and chemicals, which not only endangers soil and human health but also increases their production costs by 10-25%
Studies have shown that early detection and management of pests and diseases can reduce yield loss by 40-80%. However, the ratio of agricultural extension officers to farmers is averaged at 1:2000 in Africa (FAO), far from the recommended ratio of 1:500; hence, farmers do not have the technical support required for early diagnostics and quality food production.
Only about 10-15 % of African smallholder farmers participate in export value chains (McKinsey, 2019) as farmers struggle to participate in the export markets due to a lack of market information, poor product handling/packaging and value addition, poor quality control, and poor market linkages.
To this end, 71% of Africa’s population engaged in agriculture live in poverty (FAO, 2023) as they are unequipped to engage in practices that increase their efficiency, productivity, and profitability in the sector.
What is your solution?
Pedd app: An AI-powered mobile app that enables rural smallholder farmers to transition into efficient export market producers using its integrated smart farming, market access, and climate resilience tools and services.
Using the PeDD mobile app farmers can do the following:
1. Use their phones to detect pests and diseases early using AI, get a diagnosis, and prompt recommendations of the solution to the detected pest or disease.
2. Get farming best practice information specially curated to match export production standards through an AI chatbot trained on export quality production information.
3. Receive critical notifications, including weather forecasts and early warning alerts, through meteorological Api integrations and push notifications for proper planning and management.
4. Connect to the best verified agronomist nearest to them to get extra support when they needed
5. Access and Purchase quality inputs from verified suppliers neear them to attract safe and the best product value
6. Access and link to product value-addition services, including shared storage/post-harvest handling facilities and product processing and packaging services.
7. Directly access verified exporters and urban market dealers to attract better prices/markets.
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
Our solution targets smallholder farmers who, despite their agricultural practices, 70% are still living in poverty and can't live dignified livelihoods because they are under-reached with information, tools, and services to help them be efficient and to improve their agricultural productivity to attract and connect to high-value markets to improve their income.
The PEDD app will impact the farmers in the following ways.
1. 80% of PeDD App users will be able to participate in the export value chain, increasing their income by up to 300 percent, increasing foreign exchange in LDCs and family livelihoods
2. Reduced crop and yield losses by 10%-40%: Early pest detection coupled with early warning information and post-harvest handling will reduce possible crop and yield losses by 10-40 percent, increasing production and resulting in increased incomes.
3. Reduce their cost of production by 15-40 percent by reducing their expenditure on herbicides and pesticides through early detection and the cost of paying agronomists for disease detection and diagnostics.
4. Reduced use of chemicals due to early diagnosis will reduce harm on soil, animals and human health
5. Increased profitability through PEDD will attract the young population into practicing agriculture, increasing employment and food security.
