Zim partners Smart Africa in developing agric data...

Zim partners Smart Africa in developing agric data mapping system

Deputy Min of Lands, Vangelis Haritatos, centre, flanked to the left by Smart Africa Director of Innovations Didier Nkurikiyimfura and to the right, by ICT Permanent Secretary Beulah Chirume.

Fitzgerald Munyoro

The government, through an amalgamation of the Ministry of Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Development and the Ministry of Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services, has partnered an African development conglomerate Smart Africa in the development of a real time agricultural data mapping system, the Agriculture Information Management Systems (AIMS).

The AIMS project was launched at a Mutare hotel today.

Speaking on the sidelines of the launch, Director in the ICT ministry, Engineer Lovemore Soko said the AIMS project helps quantify and qualify Zimbabwe’s agricultural land and its associated water bodies.

Engineer Soko added that the Smart Africa initiative has tasked Zimbabwe with the role of once again becoming Africa’s bread basket and that the AIMS project would help digitally tabulate and profile all the farms, dams, crops and livestock in an easy-to-use format.

“This AIMS blueprint charts the way for the deployment of ICT in agriculture in the country and the continent at large. … the Zimbabwe National Agritech Blueprint, which is our own domestication of the continental Blueprint,” said Eng Soko.

Rwandan company Estate Consultancy was tasked by Smart Africa Alliance to develop the AIMS and its lead consultant, Felix Ange, said large and small scale farmers are set to benefit due to the sheer amount of data that is accessible in a single click.

Ange said the AIMS project addresses a plethora of problems that have troubled the Zimbabwe’s agricultural sector. “Data on farming, water and crop management was scattered. It was hard for prospective farmers to have a centralised data centre to get information. The AIMS project will address that,” said Ange, adding that it is also beneficial as it provides knowledge on what is required for the specific farming season in terms of inputs. “It also gives data on crop disease prevalence and helps farmers to plan accordingly,” he said.

Meanwhile, Centre for Natural Resource Governance (CNRG) Director Farai Maguwu expressed hope that the project will lead to accountability in land management and apportionment.

“If applied correctly, a lot of issues and disputes to do with land might be put to bed,” said Maguwu.

Director of Innovation and Technology at Smart Africa Didier Nkurikiyimfura expressed confidence that Zimbabwe has the potential to elevate its agricultural sector to world-class levels.

“Zimbabwe is blessed with natural resources and with the implementation of technology into the agricultural sector, the productivity that lies within the sector can be accelerated,” said Nkurikiyimfura

The Smart Africa Alliance started in 2013 with seven countries mainly from East and Central Africa, with a shared vision to improve agriculture through the use of technology.

Today, the number has grown to 35 member states and the continent’s largest economy, Nigeria is one of the latest entrants.

Since joining Smart Africa, Zimbabwe was tasked with leading the continent in Agritech.