By MA
« We provide organic, natural and whole food products with over 1,000 food products in our range. We offer products like animal feed, oilseeds, fruits, vegetables, fruit concentrates and honey, » says Sachin Hanwate, founder of Agrosahas, an agritech startup that is solving the problem of food sustainability in the organic space. Its platform brings together more than 10,000 organic farmers by offering them the Digifarmer application. This is all part of a personalized follow-up of farmers using new technologies.
Sachin Hanwatet has always believed in the limitless potential of the agrotech market in Africa. A graduate of the Indian Institute of Management in Kozhikode, India, who also holds a bachelor’s degree in technology, electricity and communications from the COEP Technological University, he developed his idea in Uganda at the height of the COVID crisis. This spurred him on and gave him the desire to target the entire African market.
Africa can be « the world’s agro-tech solutions hub », with agro-tech solutions that could generate US$1 trillion
By 2030, agro-technology solutions could bring $1 trillion in value to Africa, according to a Microsoft Africa Practice report. A forecast of exponential growth in agricultural technologies that could position the continent as « the global hub for agro-technology solutions ».
In the space of just a few years, Agrosahas International has grown rapidly, such has been the demand from Ugandan farmers. « We have quickly become an agro-food company. We sell soya, sunflower and maize. Today we are an agricultural and insect technology company, an agro-technical company. An agrotechnical company ». Farmers monitored by Digifarmer have access to a complete package to obtain certification. « We train them and certify them as organic farmers. In these times of climate change, this is essential.”
Armed with figures on the market’s potential, the managing director presents his company as already profitable, with the potential to grow beyond Uganda’s borders. With an eye on Morocco. « The Kingdom is a phosphate hub. Phosphate is used in fertilizer. And we’re very interested in that. That’s why we’re travelling, because we’re all in the agro-industry and it’s a very exciting time at the moment, » he smiles. « Our overall goal is to reach at least 100 million farmers across Africa, train them in organic farming and start buying organic produce from them.
I learned more about business during the crisis than I have in the last 10 years of my career chasing someone else’s dreams
Although he had always wanted to start his own business, it was the very difficult context of the pandemic that changed everything. « I learned more about business during the crisis than I have in the last 10 years of my career chasing other people’s dreams. He is now working in rural East Africa to provide the best possible products at the lowest possible price. He sees this as a business with a social purpose, with the aim of creating « more and more jobs for rural and marginalized communities ».
