Introductory video

Dr. Gerald Shively
Associate Dean and Director of International Program in Agriculture, Purdue University

The Challenges and Opportunities for African Agri-Food in Today’s Digital Age

Moderator: Danny O’Brien, Managing Director of EMEA, THRIVE

Panelists:   Shari Rogge-Fidler, President and CEO, Farm Foundation
Steve Yaninek, Professor of Entomology & Invasion Biology,
Purdue University

• Foodlocker supplies farm produce and consumer goods to large buyers by using data science and demand-matching technologies to enable smallholder farmers to produce against certain demand and to upscale their productivity.
• Hydroponics Africa’s simplified hydroponic system enables farmers to produce both food crops and livestock fodder without the use of soil.
• Mamlaka seeks to eliminate inefficiencies in the supply of fresh produce by leveraging end-to-end technology along the supply chain to ensure better quality produce and better pricing for farmers and consumers.
• M-Shamba supports smallholder farmers in the production of safe, quality food and matches the supply from the farms with demand from vendors and distributors thus creating a ready market for farmers.
• 3DIMO provides livestock biometric identification to track and trace health abnormalities in animals using IR imagery and AI.

Danny O’Brien, Managing Director of EMEA at SVG Ventures/THRIVE

Carin Gerhardt, Director of Corporate Innovation at SVG Ventures/THRIVE

Kip Tom, Former U.S. Ambassador and farmer

Steve Coulter, Senior Vice President, Koch Agronomic Services

Ranveer Chandra, Managing Director, Research for Industry, Microsoft

John McMurdy, Vice President of Innovation and Development, CropLife International