By Ibrahim Ruhweza and Kellen Owente
Experts have advised Ugandans to embrace digital farming, saying that it’s one way to help farmers benefit from their produce.
According to Andre Taute, the director of Sasa Solutions, a firm under the Netherlands Village, over 70% of Ugandans are employed in agriculture. But this number cpuld drop if they do not get interested in the search for advanced knowledge to make it more enterprising.
The revelations were made at New Vision’s Harvest Money Expo, organized under the theme “farming as a business” at Kololo Independence ceremonial Playgrounds. The annual expo attracted hundreds of farming enthusiasts.
Experts have noted that many people who go into farming, pull out at an early stage, especially the youth.
They said agriculture will only advance if farmers embrace digital farming.
They explained that digital farming would help farmers get international markets for agricultural produce and access to advanced knowledge about farming.
“If farmers digitalize farming, there are huge opportunities and solutions for them, such as keeping data, meeting other experts, and getting time to match time zones,” Taute said.
Taute added that farmers would be able to grow specific foods for countries affected by wars or climatic changes, and this in turn creates a ready market for farmers who would have grown similar crops.
While at the expo, Taute reasoned that agriculture digitalization will pave the way for extensive transformation in the sector, creating a real-time monitoring of farm productivity combined with periodic satellite- and weather-based updates that enable decision-makers to derive actionable insights on standing crops.
“A farmer must use advanced technology because it reduces costs of operation, extends new opportunities, and has direct connections,” he said.
