Agri-Tech Startup, LeviTech to assist farmers in making key crop decisions by using artificial intelligence.
Bridging the gap between Ghanaian farmers and technology through AI
Written by: David Nii Armaah
Agri-Tech Startup, Levitech is deploying an AI and machine learning model in order to assist farmers in making key crop decisions in the agricultural sector.
The duo have built a machine learning model to take in soil pH and soil moisture per acre of land in order to make recommendations on the appropriate crop to plant or fertilizers to use.
During a free artificial intelligence training program organized by Ghana Tech Lab, Joshua Yeboah and Edward Lampoh devised this idea in order to improve accuracy and productivity in the agriculture industry.
“Mainly, farmers do not really know the level of nutrients in their soil (land) so what we are trying to solve is to bring a certain level of certainty in taking decisions of the appropriate crops to plant or use.” Joshua Yeboah expressed.
The two have been receiving months of intensive entrepreneurial training and needed growth support at Ispace Foundation in Accra, a partner hub of Ghana Tech Lab.
The startup has developed a web platform with an Internet of things (IoT) component that will send all the information gathered from the soil to the artificial intelligence model online. In addition, the group has plans to build a mobile app for users.
Giving more details on how the platform works, Joshua Yeboah said: “We have an IoT device that communicates the information. Depending on the soil parameters, the platform can recommend certain crops for you.”
After research, LeviTech realized that when farmers engage in crop rotation after every season, there is a reduction due to the depleted level of nutrients. So, the IoT device is what measures the soil parameters and it can tell from the soil what can be best produced. He added.
After six weeks of intensive training in Artificial intelligence, the duo pitched their idea at a local hackathon that saw them being selected for an additional 10 weeks incubation.
Ghana Tech Lab’s incubation program is geared towards assisting youthful technopreneurs with business and technical training in order to transform their ideas into real sustainable products of value and fit for the market.
The LeviTech group also has google extension officers who will be usually dedicated to a particular farmer to assist them in making these decisions.
“Most of the farmers are uneducated or some sort, so these google extension officers are the people we are putting in place to interpret things for the farmers and to bridge that gap of clearly understanding the technology.” Joshua Yeboah said.
Through the auspices of the World Bank and Ministry of Communications Ghana, Ghana Tech Lab is currently enrolling 28 artificial intelligence startup ideas across 9 regions in the country through its incubation program.
The mission of this incubator program is to help drive artificial intelligence innovations in Ghana by aiding innovative AI startup ideas with tangible resources, coaching experts and giving young entrepreneurs a real chance to succeed.
Training Partners: Dansyn Ghana, Icode Ghana, Hopin Academy, Grassroot Hub, iSpace, Ho Node, Yison Tech Hub, Kumasi Hive, Developers in Vogue and Code Coast.
