In a transformative leap for South Africa’s agricultural sector, AECI Plant Health and the agritech innovator Khula have joined forces to revolutionise farming practices for the new-era farmer. This dynamic partnership is not only expanding market reach but also spearheading sustainable farming practices with cutting-edge solutions.
According to Jannie Willemse, business development manager at AECI Plant Health, their strategic investment in Khula, an agritech company that facilitates participation in the agricultural value chain for small and medium-sized enterprises, commercial farmers, and distributors, has been a good move in reaching and assisting new-era farmers.
“We have more than 2 million emerging farmers in South Africa today. And they are from small farms where they consume everything they produce, to farmers that are now actually playing in the commercial space. The challenge we’ve got is the cost to serve these farmers is extremely high,” he explains.
Collaboration is key
Willemse shares that by integrating their chemical expertise with Khula’s innovative technology, AECI aims to offer competitive prices, accessible products, and valuable support through the Khula app.
“In AECI, we’ve got more than 190 crop advisors and just over 30 technical advisors that support the Khula app.”
He explains that the advisors are spread right through South Africa, and have knowledge and experience on the conditions of each specific area.
“So what we’ve done is the technical advisors created programmes for different crops, fertiliser programmes, chemical programmes that we’ve loaded up to the Khula app, and the farmers can look at that,” he explains.
Willemse adds that the partnership has also opened new markets and customer segments, including organised buying groups that benefit from competitive pricing and efficient delivery.
“AECI and Khula have been working together for the last four years, and we’ve got a common goal. That goal is to find better ways to assist and help emerging farmers to increase their profits on the farm,” Willemse says.
In this episode, Willemse also discusses:
- Collaboration projects with Khula in the future; and
- Contributing to the growth of small-scale farmers.
Dive deeper into the episode and gain insights from the award-winning Farmer’s Inside Track, officially recognised as Africa and the world’s best podcast at the 2024 Digital Media Awards presented by WAN-IFRA, the global press organisation.
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