Chronicle Editor
Bongani Ndlovu, [email protected]
YOUTHS from Zimbabwe’s universities are leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) to come up with innovative agricultural solutions that could help boost productivity for farmers.
This was one of the outcomes on the first day of the two-day Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) Innovators Forum held yesterday at the Zimbabwe International Exhibition Centre, where over 17 groups of young people pitched innovative ideas to bring about solutions in different sectors of the economy.
The forum is powered by ZB Financial Holdings and the UNDP in conjunction with Elevate Trust. The event is being held under the theme: “Empowering Youth-led Innovation for Industrialisation and Trade Development.”
Yesterday morning, speakers from ZB Financial Holdings, ZimSwitch, ZETDC, Econet Wireless, African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation, Environmental Management Agency, Fintech, Edutech, The StemLady and Girls in Stem made their presentations.
In the afternoon, students from different institutions pitched their innovative ideas to a panel of judges and the winners will get funding from ZB Financial Holdings.
In agriculture worldwide, the advent of AI models helps predict yield with a high degree of accuracy by analysing data on weather patterns, soil conditions, crop and animal health. This information allows farmers to plan better and make informed decisions about the best times to harvest.
Machine learning is a branch of AI and computer science that focuses on using data and algorithms to enable AI to imitate the way that humans learn, gradually improving its accuracy.
From the Chinhoyi University of Technology, there was the Hurudza AI Contact Centre for Farmers and Livetrack from the Great Zimbabwe University. They are developing a programme for the Optimisation of Input Allocation for the Climate Proofed Presidential Inputs Scheme.
Ms Nichollete Smomo Mazwi Ndlovu representing Livetrack explained how their system is used to track livestock, estimate breeding time, locate the livestock and also check for diseases.
“So, for instance, when cows are in their mating season, they start mounting on each other and we use accelerometers and we can tell that the posture is changed. We can also do contact tracing if a cow falls sick and this will helps us curb the control of diseases,” she said.
“For stock theft, we can track if the livestock has been stolen or is moving somewhere else or the tracker has been removed.”
Ms Ndlovu said they are leveraging AI, so that through the system they can give the farmer up-to-date information about their livestock.
“If you are subscribed to Livetrack, we have a free licence network where if you are subscribed to Livetrack the tracker on the animal will send information to your phone. It doesn’t matter whether it is a smart-phone or ordinary 2G phone, the information is sent through an SMS or through the app that can be installed depending on the phone,” she said.
Mr Frank Makeba, the founder of Hurudza AI Contact Centre for Farmers, said they are using AI to help assist farmers with challenges they might encounter, using local languages.
He said through machine learning and various inputs, the innovation will have options to use native languages that are fed into the system and can give prompt responses to farmers in need.
“The farmers can send questions through their 2G or smart phones and they would get automated responses in their native language for his or her problem. So, to create this, we leveraged artificial intelligence through machine learning and natural language processing. We used recordings from preachers in the country and also music from artistes to come up with the natural languages,” said Mr Makeba.
Mr Lazarous Dekeza, Optimisation of Input Allocation for the Climate Proofed Presidential Inputs Scheme said through AI they want to eradicate corruption in the allocation of inputs.
Founder of Elevate Trust, The StemLady, Ms Sicelo Dube said the forum has grown in leaps and bounds over the years.
“What is particularly exciting for me, is watching the growth from the past four to five years, where we started with just 30 applying for the innovation competition. Now we have over 300 applying and we had to screen, so that we choose the best before the main pitch,” she said.
“This shows that ZITF is bridging the gap between the young people and the old people. The start-ups, the innovators and the big giants that are here today and we, are so grateful for the companies such as ZB, UNDP.”
ZB Financial Holdings Chief Transformation Officer, Mr Kangai Maukazuva said he was impressed with the pitches, especially those that deal with agriculture and trying to strengthen food security.
“We are seeing good ideas and our people are focusing on agriculture and we need to understand that food security is key and the climate conditions are changing and we need solutions that can curb or mitigate the risks of security,” he said. “We are seeing that the young people are coming up with solutions, ones that can save money.”
Online Reporter