Liquid Telecom, one of the leading communications services and solutions provider across Eastern, Central & Southern Africa, has partnered with Twiga Foods to increase agricultural productivity in the country.
Through the partnership, the two firms aim at deploying a complete precision agriculture Internet of Things (IoT) network system to improve farm productivity at Twiga’s Takuwa farm. This is expected to open up new opportunities that in the long run will ensure food security is a reality not only in Kenya, but Africa as a whole.
According Peter Njonjo, CEO, Twiga Foods, their partnership with Liquid Telecom was based on increasing efficiency.
“Increasing business efficiency through digital solutions is one of the main reasons we partnered with Liquid Telecom. By using smart devices, we have automated multiple processes across the farm’s production cycle. The use of soil probes in monitoring the soil moisture in the expansive farm, for instance, has resulted in an efficient use of water, as irrigation is only done when the soil moisture level is low,” he said, encouraging other farms to also deploy IoT solutions to aid in food security.
The system that Liquid Telecom deployed includes four different types of agriculture sensors: a comprehensive weather station, soil moisture, and temperature probes, borehole water meters, and sensors for measuring irrigation water acidity and salinity. According to Adil Youssefi, Liquid Telecom CEO East Africa, the system takes advantage of Liquid Telecom’s extensive low-power wide-area IoT network using 0G Sigfox technology covering 85 % of the population in Kenya at lower costs than other technologies.
“These sensors provide critical information to the Twiga agronomy team. The smart weather station provides real-time data that helps farm managers deploy the most effective farming methods for irrigation and the application of pesticides. Furthermore, the water quality sensors provide specific metrics that help the team to optimize their fertilizer application. Additional data gathered and monitored on a real-time basis include temperature, humidity, rainfall, and wind speed,” Youssefi said.
The deployment of the intelligent farming expertise on the Twiga Foods Takuwa Farms through the use of IoT sensors will increase productivity and efficiency, ultimately contributing to the national Big 4 Agenda.
