Dear Farmers,

It is with great pleasure that I write to you today with regards to the topic of discourse which has been tagged "Drone applications for African Agriculture".

Before I proceed, let me do a brief introduction of myself. I am your foremost letter writer simply called "Babatunde", having written over 168 letters on several subjects and personal experiences while working with smallholder farmers in Africa with FutuX Agri-consult Ltd, a leading private agricultural extension and farm certification support firm in Nigeria.

Back to the topic, over the last decades in Africa, agricultural productivity has remained low as a result of several factors, two of which are pest infection and weed management. These duo have been an age long issue, but became more adverse in recent times due to climate change, where pest population has increased, their feeding behaviour has changed (more voracious) and weed resistance has been more intense. Thus, inefficient pest and weed management during production contributes to 40-80% and 37% loss in crop yield respectively, and at the same time, reduces crop quality (grading) and farmers' revenue. Interestingly, farmers had employed various methods in managing pest and weed over the years, and one of the major methods is the use of synthetic chemicals. This method has its own numerous benefits, yet its adverse effect on the farmers' health is becoming alarming, thus outweighing the gains that have been achieved.

Exposure to hazardous chemicals
Furthermore, it is vital to know that this adverse effect is contributed largely due to inability of smallholder farmers to access and afford the basic personal protective equipment (PPE) as majority of them are among the most vulnerable groups, thus, exposing them during application to high risk consequences and as such could trigger various cancers by disrupting the endocrine system, destroying DNA, damaging tissues, and switching genes on or off. In addition, environmental and occupational exposure to hazardous chemicals increases the global burden of disease, which per year includes nearly 5 million deaths and 90 million Disability-Adjusted Life Years (DALYs).

Drones are very key in providing cutting edge solutions to the aforementioned challenges. This is because they are unmanned aerial vehicles employed to optimize agriculture operations; increase production of crops/livestock and ensure effective monitoring of growth
Besides, application of synthetic chemicals by farmers or farm workers are most times inefficiently done, as different parts of the farm receive unequal quantities during spraying. This is largely due to human error (as accuracy is low), thereby leading to wastage of inputs, increased cost of production and much more effect would be food toxicity, which makes food unsafe to consume for both human being and livestock. This in essence would have a ripple effect on food insecurity. Therefore, there is an urgent need to find alternative solutions to these challenges to salvage the current situation.

Therefore, drones are very key in providing cutting edge solutions to the aforementioned challenges. This is because they are unmanned aerial vehicles employed to optimize agriculture operations; increase production of crops/livestock and ensure effective monitoring of growth. For crop production, drones provide information and deep insight to ensure proper scouting of pests and monitoring in order to identify areas infected by pests or diseases, and also can be incorporated in the development of integrated pest management (IPM) system ( for spraying of pesticides to increase production efficiency). Drones are suitable to be deployed for spraying (pesticides and fertilizer) due to its high level of accuracy to ensure that every crop stand receives equal volume of pesticides/fertilizer at every given time. In addition, drones ensure that wastage of inputs is reduced to the barest minimum in the process of application. Also, the use of drones reduces inhalation of hazardous chemicals during spraying as there is a safe distance between the person controlling the drones and the farm where the operation is carried out. The person controlling the drone doesn't necessarily need to be inside the farm during the activity. Furthermore, drones can be used for crop loss assessment to determine the extent of crop damages on the field by pests, wind, flood, or animals for reclaim purposes by insurers.


There is still little or no technical personnel readily available on the Africa continent for drone maintenance and repairs. Thus, costs of maintenance and repairs are very high. There is an urgent need for key stakeholders in the African agriculture sector to develop an encompassing policy framework that promote more usage of drone especially in production activities
Minimize the effects of shortcomings
However, these benefits are desired to be enjoyed by all, and in the same vein, it has its own shortcomings among which are as follows. Firstly, drones are very expensive for smallholder farmers and getting a license to fly it is a rigorous process. Secondly, government policy in support of drone usage is still weak or non-existence in so many Africa countries. Thirdly, there are few drone service providers operating in the agriculture space in Africa and as such awareness among the farmers remains low. In addition, there is still dearth in accessing relevant information on drone usage such as farmers' willingness to pay for drone services, the exact amount to be paid, the other needs of farmers that can be solved and enhanced by drone and the impact of the drone services on livelihood of farm workers. Finally, there is still little or no technical personnel readily available on the Africa continent for drone maintenance and repairs. Thus, costs of maintenance and repairs are very high.

In as much as the prospects outweighs the shortcomings and has a long-lasting positive impact on the food security in Africa, therefore, specific recommendations have been suggested to minimize the effect of these shortcomings. There is an urgent need for key stakeholders in the African agriculture sector to develop an encompassing policy framework that promote more usage of drone especially in production activities. In addition, drone service providers should employ the subscription model for smallholder farmers and should be incorporated as associated service(s) to extension services. Furthermore, more advocacy on agriculture drone benefits should be promoted at all levels. In addendum, local capacity development of technical personnel should be implemented especially for the youths and women to create more jobs and employment opportunities. And finally, more research studies should be carried out on farmers' acceptability of drones services, willing to pay for drone services, infrastructural requirements of drones in Africa amongst others.

In conclusion, the future of food in Africa is to guarantee consistent increasing quality and safe food for its ever increasing population, and this can only be achieved when all factors hindering productivity are effectively addressed, and the solutions are optimized with the use of technology like drones. Drone is here for African agriculture to explore the possibility of an unending food production and growth. Therefore, the future is here and here we are to make it happen.

Wouldn't you rather move with the cloud of drones?

Yours-in-Service

Babatunde Olarewaju