Agricultural drones
BY BILLY KATONTOKA, In Zambia
Ask yourself this question: why is it that the West is always ahead of Africa? Let’s bring it home closer. When in tertiary education and you notice that you are always lacking behind in grades visa vis your fellow students, what remedial actions did you take? You obviously adjusted to get better. The same is true for individuals, countries and societies who are serious about progress.
The point being made is that Africa needs to be deliberate and intentional in its approach to innovation and development. If Africans don’t want to be a consuming continent (lagging behind in our grades), Africans need to begin setting up an infrastructure for research and development where ideas and inventions can be given room and space to grow.
Reconsidering how much budget allocations each African country gives to its research and development is one solution to repositioning technology advancement in Africa. Also, Private Sector Partnerships that are transparent without any hidden agendas will also help unlock the future of Africa’s technology dominance and development and fast track booming agricultural economies on the continent.
My answer may sound idealistic at face value but this I believe is the pathway for many of Africa’s development options. For instance, who is funding the AfDB or any of the so-called Apex Banks of Africa like Afrexim bank? The source of funding for these institutions sets conditions for how and where their funds can be invested so that the lender can have a return on their investment. This is how Africa’s development, in the long run, is controlled and dictated.
So, assuming the funders of our pan African institutions, have given green light to invest in agricultural drone technology and our institutions don’t push the agenda or do so then the lack thereof is on their hands. However, in the event that there is an explicit condition not to invest or promote such technology on the pretext that “it’s too risky” or “not yet a proven technology” whereas in the West investment to test such technology is made available, then, you know the meaning behind such a condition.
This is why our leaders and all those that are in a position of authority with stewardship responsibility of African resources should start looking at different development pathways that build Africa’s autonomy in a significant way so that we are able to pursue those innovations that we see and deem practical and instrumental for growing our pan African economy and agenda.
Of course, failure to act now and take advantage of a technology whose time has come with immense potential to transform the agricultural landscape in Africa will be an opportunity lost for developing a completely new industry, the drone service industry, with magnitude potential to absorb the unemployed youth in Africa.
The potential impact of technology in agriculture is catalytic in this 4IR era. The 4IR is characterised by robotics, AI, IoT, digitization and automation. These are the technologies, either individually or combined, that can easily bring African youths back into Agriculture.
At MiDrone Pilot Academy, this is our vision, to teach youngsters a million things about the technology surrounding drones, from piloting to mapping to data analysis and repairing of drones. Our approach is to present, digestible and yet demanding doses of input, intermingled with multimedia demonstrations from the web and question-and-answer rounds. The AfDB and similar financial institutions may wish to partner with Private Sector like ourselves for the growing a crop of African youth with a full understanding of drone technology.
Our curriculum is such that participants learn as much as possible about various types of drones and what they need to know to fly them safely. We plan to have Participants get ample opportunity to fly drones of all conceivable shapes and sizes, and we know this is what many will come for primarily. My appeal is that we lose not sight and forget that drones are increasingly becoming useful in many sectors. During this current pandemic, many logistics companies have increased their use of drones.
Really the long and short of technology adoption is to be seen to champion its use and demand that the supplier of technology train the end-user. If agriculture is indeed a pillar for growth and food sufficiency then there should be deliberate policy by African political and financial leaders to engage the suppliers of these technologies, not only to buy but train people in the use of technology. Such partnerships should demand that repair and maintenance should be done in-country by trained locals to facilitate technological knowledge transfer.
Mr. Billy Katontoka is the founder and CEO of MiDrone Pilot Academy, a subsidiary of Lehem Enterprise Limited, set up to train the next generation of drone pilots and technicians in key sectors of the Zambian economy such as agriculture and transportation. He was also the head of Transaction Services for Zambia National Commercial Bank (Zanaco) PLC, between 2016 and 2018.
