7 Boards

Grassroots agricultural innovation in Africa

This collection looks at the dataset of grassroots innovation (also called "solutions") mapped by the Accelerator Labs on the African continent and related to food and agriculture. Its goal is to provide intelligence to UNDP's plans to incubate thousands of startups with the Timbuktoo initiative .

Research shows that most innovation is not created in corporate- or university labs. Rather, it is created by ordinary people trying to improve their lives, help their loved ones, or simply have fun. A recent study , co-authored by researchers at MIT and the UNDP Accelerator Labs, estimates one million grassroots innovators – 2.5% of the population – in South Africa alone.

Scanning SDG Commons data can give a sense of what grassroots innovators are working on when it comes to inventing, developing, or adopting technology in support of agriculture and food systems in a broader sense. We started by selecting the solutions mapped on the 58 African countries (about 3,000); next, we used a Large Language Model to select those that aligned with the definition of "agritech" used by the Timbuktoo initiative. Finally, we went through 108 of the solutions most closely aligned with that definition, and created several boards. Each board gathers solutions that deployed a specific technological strategy, like "use sensors and actuators to reduce the consumption of scarce agricultural inputs, such as water" or "connect agricultural machines to solar panels to allow for a degree of mechanization even in rural areas where access to energy is problematic." More on the methodology is available on the data analysis project's wiki here. Some interactive data visualizations are accessible from here.

This process left us with a collection of 783 solutions close to Timbuktoo's description of agritech. Many of these cluster into the six boards described below. The six boards can be interpreted as a list of the food and agriculture-related technologies that African grassroots innovators believe to be both in demand and achievable. The relative size of the boards has no particular meaning, as it is influenced by the interests of the Accelerator Labs in Africa. More on the interpretation of results is available on the data analysis project's wiki.

Small-farm appropriate agricultural machines. Most farms are small, but most machines for agriculture are conceived for large, industrial farms. A collection of simple, cheap machines that smallholder farmers can easily acquire and maintain. Solar pumps for irrigation in off-grid areas, pedal-powered cashew nuts peelers, olives presses, locally built and maintained electric mills, and more.
Advanced services to food systems. Innovative services, often tailored for smallholder farmers. Market intelligence, logistics, e-commerce, and so on. Bringing them in line of sight of the farmers is about accelerating the adoption of innovation, rather than its generation.
Smart and precision agriculture. Solutions that bring a smart component to farming in Africa: irrigation based on soil moisture, observation and monitoring with computer vision tech, and more.
Agro-ecology. Solutions available to African farmers to grow crops and livestock in balance with nature. Insect protein as feedstock, paper production from grass instead of timber, organic methods to grow palms, and more.
Heirloom and local crops. Solutions based on finding new uses and new markets for local/heirloom crops. Indigenous species are very well adapted to the local climate and soil characteristics, and often require less water, chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Blue chamomile in Morocco, energy drinks from baobab fruit in Zambia, drought-resistant cultivars in Niger, and more.
Food and produce conservation. Renewable energy-powered dryers and traditional solutions for cooling provide affordable, sustainable alternatives to fossil-fuel based cold chains. Together with fertilizers production, cold chains are the main source of greenhouse gas emission in food systems.

Full List of Boards in this Collection

Agri-tech solutions in Africa

Collection of solutions created via a Large Language Models-powered classification process. It is meant as a long list of solutions within which to identify the grassroots tropes on technology related…

783 Items

Small-farm appropriate machines

Most farms are small, but most machines for agriculture are conceived for large, industrial farms. This is a collection of simple, cheap machines that smallholder farmers can easily acquire and mainta…

33 Items

Advanced services to food systems in Africa

This board collects solutions mapped in Africa that consist of innovative services made available to farmers. Includes logistics, ecommerce and finance for now.

22 Items

Smart/precision agriculture in Africa

Solutions that bring a smart component to farming in Africa: irrigation based on soil moisture, observation and monitoring with computer vision tech, etc.

22 Items

Agro-ecology in Africa

Solutions available to African farmers to grow crops and livestock in balance with nature. Insect protein as feedstock, paper production from grass instead of timber, organic methods to grow palms…

19 Items

Food conservation in Africa

Cold chains are a major driver of the greenhouse gases emissions of global food systems. Renewable energy-powered dryers and traditional solutions for cooling provide affordable, sustainable alternati…

13 Items

Heirloom and local crops in Africa

Solutions based on finding new uses and new markets for local/heirloom crops. Indigenous species are very well adapted to the local climate and soil characteristics, and often require less water, chem…

8 Items

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Grassroots agricultural innovation in Africa

7 Boards

Grassroots agricultural innovation in Africa

Small-farm appropriate agricultural machines. Most farms are small, but most machines for agriculture are conceived for large, industrial farms. A collection of simple, cheap machines that smallholder farmers can easily acquire and maintain. Solar pumps for irrigation in off-grid areas, pedal-powered cashew nuts peelers, olives presses, locally built and maintained electric mills, and more.
Advanced services to food systems. Innovative services, often tailored for smallholder farmers. Market intelligence, logistics, e-commerce, and so on. Bringing them in line of sight of the farmers is about accelerating the adoption of innovation, rather than its generation.
Smart and precision agriculture. Solutions that bring a smart component to farming in Africa: irrigation based on soil moisture, observation and monitoring with computer vision tech, and more.
Agro-ecology. Solutions available to African farmers to grow crops and livestock in balance with nature. Insect protein as feedstock, paper production from grass instead of timber, organic methods to grow palms, and more.
Heirloom and local crops. Solutions based on finding new uses and new markets for local/heirloom crops. Indigenous species are very well adapted to the local climate and soil characteristics, and often require less water, chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Blue chamomile in Morocco, energy drinks from baobab fruit in Zambia, drought-resistant cultivars in Niger, and more.
Food and produce conservation. Renewable energy-powered dryers and traditional solutions for cooling provide affordable, sustainable alternatives to fossil-fuel based cold chains. Together with fertilizers production, cold chains are the main source of greenhouse gas emission in food systems.

Full List of Boards in this Collection

Agri-tech solutions in Africa

783 Items

Small-farm appropriate machines

33 Items

Advanced services to food systems in Africa

This board collects solutions mapped in Africa that consist of innovative services made available to farmers. Includes logistics, ecommerce and finance for now.

22 Items

Smart/precision agriculture in Africa

Solutions that bring a smart component to farming in Africa: irrigation based on soil moisture, observation and monitoring with computer vision tech, etc.

22 Items

Agro-ecology in Africa

Solutions available to African farmers to grow crops and livestock in balance with nature. Insect protein as feedstock, paper production from grass instead of timber, organic methods to grow palms…

19 Items

Food conservation in Africa

13 Items

Heirloom and local crops in Africa

8 Items

Grassroots agricultural innovation in Africa

Full List of Boards in this Collection

Agri-tech solutions in Africa

Small-farm appropriate machines

Advanced services to food systems in Africa

Smart/precision agriculture in Africa

Agro-ecology in Africa

Food conservation in Africa

Heirloom and local crops in Africa

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Who we are

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Grassroots agricultural innovation in Africa

Full List of Boards in this Collection

Agri-tech solutions in Africa

Small-farm appropriate machines

Advanced services to food systems in Africa

Smart/precision agriculture in Africa

Agro-ecology in Africa

Food conservation in Africa

Heirloom and local crops in Africa