Econet launches Ecofarmer platform

By Staff reporter | 05 Oct 2019 at 10:57hrs
Vaya tractor
ECONET Wireless Zimbabwe subsidiary Cassava Smartech, in partnership with Ghanaian company TroTro, has launched an Ecofarmer platform to provide farmers with a wide range of services ahead of the 2019-2020 farming season. The platform will provide services like ploughing, discing, water delivery, boom spraying, borehole drilling, ridging, fertiliser spreading, reaping and planting.

The launch also saw the unveiling of 2 000 Vaya tractors that will be deployed across the country, upon a farmer's requests, to offer ploughing services. Cassava Smartech chief executive Ed- die Chibi said the Ecofarmer platform was launched to ensure that technology is used to empower farmers across the country.

"ICTs play a critical role in agriculture as the world is turning into a digital sphere. This is why we are launching the Ecofarmer platform because we want to use technology to bridge the gap between the researchers and farmers and to improve productivity," he said.

Chibi added that the agriculture industry has the potential to revive the country's economy as more than 70 percent of Zimbabweans rely on agriculture for their livelihoods.

"We have 1,3 million smallholder farmers in the country, 163 000 A1 farmers and close to 19 000 A2 farmers and this makes agriculture the biggest industry in the country. So if we transform this industry we are doing ourselves a favour.

"I would like to encourage those with resources to invest in this initiative and to come on board to ensure that we deploy tractors evenly across the country. "Even the government can also add the tractors it has to the Vaya platform to increase the number that can service our

farmers," Chibi said. Agriculture minister Perrance Shiri said this was a welcome development as it sought to address the challenges the country was facing in terms of farming equipment and technology.

"The country currently has a deficit of 33 000 tractors, 10 000 planters and 500 combine harvesters. The launch of the Ecofarmer platform, which facilitates digital equipment hire, is set to transform the agricultural sector through providing access to farming equipment, water delivery and borehole drilling, among others," he said.

Shiri added that the platform would connect farmers across the country to help them access farming equipment with ease.

"The introduction of such a service that is designed to optimally utilise the available equipment complements our efforts to boost productivity on our farms.

"The introduction of Vaya tractor services will also ensure Zimbabwe aligns to global trends of using technology in agriculture to transform the lives of our people," he said.

Late last year Cassava Smartech launched a new ride-hailing service application called Vaya Lift that offers convenient, affordable and safe transportation.

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