Building a Precision Agriculture Data Platform
A three-layer precision agriculture stack that increases smallholder yields by 25% and income by 40% through satellite data, AI advisory, and digital marketplace integration.
12
Sections
6
Steps
6
KPIs
4
Cases
HBS Case Method · Playbook Arc
Problem
African farmers lose 30% of potential yield due to information asymmetry
Smallholder farmers (33M farms in SSA), agricultural cooperatives, and government agricultural extension services
Extension services reach only 5% of farmers. Weather stations cover 1 per 25,000 km² (vs 1 per 500 km² in EU). Market pricing is opaque, controlled by middlemen with information advantage.
$65B in annual post-harvest losses. Farmers receive 10–30% of final consumer price. Information asymmetry keeps 80% of smallholders below the poverty line.
Smallholder farmers across Africa lack access to localised weather data, soil analysis, and market pricing. This information gap results in suboptimal planting decisions, crop losses, and exploitative pricing by middlemen.
30%
Yield loss from information gap
FAO Africa Report 2024
33M
Smallholder farms in SSA
Alliance for a Green Revolution
$65B
Annual post-harvest losses
African Development Bank