Digital agriculture competition launches in Egypt

Digital agriculture means using digital technologies in agriculture to get data that can help farmers take action without waste of resources.

The German development agency GIZ, launched a startup competition in digital agriculture. The GIZ has an Agriculture Innovation Project in cooperation with Arab Women Enterprise Fund and Ain Shams University’s iHub, an innovation, entrepreneurship and creativity hub.

The 1st phase of the competition which is applications, concluded on 13 June. The second phase will be dedicated to training and will run from mid-June until mid-august. The second phase will include an incubation program.

On 31 August the winners of the competition will be selected and announced.

In order to win, the contestants have to provide an innovative solution, that has a main focus and is achievable and sustainable. Factors like social impact and inclusiveness of young people and of women will count in the evaluation.

Digital agriculture can help with major issues in agriculture like water usage and production limitations. It also offers data and statistics on temperature, needed fertilizers, humidity; all of which can help farmers make more effective, timely, conscious decisions.

Egypt’s agricultural sector is still led by small land owners ranging from 1-3 feddans which means production costs are higher and a lot of water is wasted.