OCP Africa, a division of the massive Moroccan fertilizer and phosphate company OCP Group, is working with Microsoft’s Africa Transformation Office to develop digital agro entrepreneurs who will improve food security across the continent.
Announcing this at the fifth United Nations conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC5) in Doha, Qatar, the companies said the partnership will support smallholder farmers and other agri-stakeholders across the continent by 2025.
OCP Africa will work with the technology company to scale up its digital agriculture platform by integrating innovative technologies, including the cloud and Agri data platform.
The platform will help improve farmer productivity while helping them manage their businesses. It will also ensure their access to products and Agri-services and facilitate their communication with stakeholders.
“We believe that precision farming, driven by the adoption of advanced technologies in agriculture, will revolutionise food production and help end hunger and poverty in Africa,” said General Manager, Microsoft Africa Cluster, Wael Elkabbany.
For Elkabbany, technology is the “key factor to enabling and increasing access to finance, equipment, and sustainability for rural farmers, empowering local farmers in Africa.”
He believes that OCP Africa and Microsoft’s partnership will have a direct positive impact on smallholder farmers, as well as improve agricultural production.
African agriculture is witnessing a “moment of transformation,” said the Chief Executive, of OCP Africa Mohamed Anouar Jamali, stressing the valuable opportunities that farmers, and the industry as a whole, have.
The digitisation of agricultural practices will help smallholder farmers optimise their decision-making, he explained, arguing that it would, in turn, optimise production.
“The partnership between OCP Africa and Microsoft will allow us to increase the services provided and scale up our digital platform, expand our reach, and have an even bigger impact on food security across the continent,” Jamali added.
