Empowering Kenya’s Avocado Farmers with OMA

The Connected Farmer Platform providing a solution for Kenya’s Avocado Farmers

BELIZE CITY, BELIZE — Dimitra Incorporated, a global Agtech company on a mission to make its technology available to farmers globally, is collaborating with One Million Avocados (OMA), a startup organization in Kenya, focused on helping the avocado farmers in the region. More specifically, OMA’s goal is to increase the production and quality of East African avocados using trace technology and, ultimately, “saving the world, one avocado at a time.”

Everything you need to know about avocados

So, why do people love avocados? This pear-shaped, green-skinned crop is not just a way to upgrade your dips and spreads, but they are also a nutrient-filled powerhouse. Contrary to popular belief, avocados are actually a fruit, not a vegetable.

An increasing number of people are focusing on a healthy lifestyle, leading to rising demand for nutritious food. As a result, the global avocado market is predicted to expand and grow in the coming years.

Amidst the projected growth of the avocado market, we have the farmers trying to keep up with demand. Before you see an avocado in the produce aisle of your local grocery store or market, a farmer will have gone through many stages to grow it — propagation, planting, farm analysis, post-harvest, and market distribution. Harvesting the fruit requires an enormous amount of labor and water.

To combat this, OMA is utilizing Dimitra’s tech stack to support the OMA farmers. To put it another way, farmers will be able to improve the current practices and create more sustainable farming methods for the future.

Industry challenges farmers face

Currently, avocado farmers are facing certain challenges with their farming that we want to improve upon.

For example, there are stringent export rules that are in place that make it difficult for a farmer to export their produce with ease, limiting their potential revenue stream. Other common problems that farmers face are pests and diseases that affect the livelihood of their crops.

With Dimitra’s tech stack, combining advanced machine learning and data science methods, farmers can have the tools and insights they need to better understand their pest and disease problems in real time and discover effective solutions for control and management.

What’s more, Dimitra is exploring potential sponsorship opportunities and programs with OMA. For example, looking into helping farmers access financing modules to alleviate financial burdens. Together, they aim to cement Kenya’s position as Africa’s top producer of quality avocados and increase exports globally.

An agtech solution to support farmers

Currently, OMA focuses on traceability, precise farm management, pricing, financial inclusion, and the marketplace to support their farmers. By working with Dimitra, OMA’s farmers can utilize Dimitra’s tech-driven solution curated for the avocado industry. Ab0ve all, by providing farmers with the tools and support needed to succeed, they can increase yields, streamline supply chain processes, and promote sustainable farming practices.

Dimitra continuously develops the Connected Farmer platform to adapt to new regions and crops. Today, the platform is ready for avocados, and Swahili has been added to the growing list of 18 languages. More specifically, the app will be used to support OMA’s farmers with pest and disease prevention and data reporting.

By working with Dimitra, OMA plans to reduce administrative and operational costs associated with farm data registration and collection.

A noteworthy point about this agreement is that OMA uses Dimitra ($DMTR) tokens for transactions, ensuring that farmers also use the token. OMA will convert the One Million Avocados (OMA) farmers’ points accrued for DMTR tokens, consequently increasing awareness of Dimitra tokenization among its farmers.

Actionable insights for decision-making

Reporting is a big factor in a project like this. At Dimitra, we use reports to benefit farmers through advisory services. This way, farmers can apply actionable insights to their farming activities to increase yields, reduce costs, mitigate risks, and improve overall crop health.

More specifically, by increasing crop performance, farm productivity can as much as double in some cases.

Crop management includes factors such as:

• Soil remediation
• Reducing the use of chemicals and fertilizers
• Irrigation and water management
• Weed management

In fact, an example of where Dimitra intervenes is providing recommendations to reclaim soil health and a problem diagnosis on what pests and diseases might be evident. A farmer receives these recommendations through an analytical crop report that can be sent daily, weekly, or monthly.

Prince Victor Femi-Fred, Dimitra’s Director of Sub-Saharan Africa, says, “Dimitra is proud of this partnership as it will help bridge the gap of complicated farming. Providing room for data-driven farming using today’s technology across the Sub-Saharan region of Africa to make a difference. We are excited to work with our new partner and expand Dimitra’s presence in Sub-Saharan Africa.”

Press Contact: If you have inquiries about this news or want to get in touch with Dimitra Incorporated, contact info@dimitra.io.