Agripreneurs are bringing the digital age to farmers in Pakistan to help them plan better crop production and distribution.
Until now, "our newest machine was the tractor," farmer Aamir Hayat Bhandara, a member of the local council responsible for one of the projects, told AFP in Chak 26 village, in the agricultural province of Punjab.
Even making mobile phone calls can be difficult in many parts of Pakistan, but since October, farmers in Chak 26 have been given free internet access, something that revolutionizes the way they work.
Agriculture is the backbone of Pakistan's economy. It represents about 20% of the gross domestic product and employs about 40% of the labor force.
Pakistan is the world's fifth largest producer of sugar cane, seventh largest producer of wheat and tenth largest producer of rice, but it relies heavily on human labor and still lags behind other major agricultural countries in mechanization.
Cows and donkeys rest near a muddy road that leads to a pavilion at Chuck 26, connected to a nearby town's Internet thanks to a small satellite dish.
This is the "Digital Dera", or meeting place, and 6 local farmers have come to see computers and tablets that provide accurate weather forecasts as well as market prices and farming tips.
"I have never seen a tablet before," said Munir Ahmed, 45, who grows corn, potatoes and wheat.
Another farmer, Amjad Naseer, who hopes the project will bring "more prosperity," added, "Before, we were basing ourselves on the experiences of our ancestors or our own, but that was not very accurate."
Mobile applications
And mass access to the Internet is not Bhandara's only innovation. A short drive away, a modern electronic replacement system is attached to an old water pump on the wall of a hut.
He now only needs a tablet to control the irrigation of the 100 hectares he farms, though he still suffers from intermittent power supplies in Pakistan.
This year, Bhandara hopes others will use the technology, which he says will reduce water consumption and effort.
He explained to "Agence France Presse" that the digitization of agriculture and the rural population is the only way to prosper.
At the other end of the supply chain, in Lahore, about 150km to the north, dozens of men load fruits and vegetables onto cargo bikes at the warehouse of Taza, a start-up that acts as an intermediary between farmers and traders.
After just four months of its inception, the company is delivering around 100 tons of products per day to merchants in Lahore and Karachi who place their orders through a mobile app.
The company's regional director, Inaam Al-Haq, said, "In the past, the merchant had to wake up at 5 or 5:30 in the morning to buy wholesale products, at today's price, and then face difficulties in transporting them."
At the company's office, some employees handle orders, but for now, purchases are still made over the phone as part of the app for farmers is still in development.
Also, the startup is dealing with a "centuries-old" system that stakeholders are reluctant to change, as co-founder Abrar Bajwa explained.
Standard Investments
While fruits and vegetables often rot during long, poorly organized delivery trips, apps like Taza contribute to making the whole system more efficient, explains co-founder Mohsen Zakka.
In addition to Lahore, Taza operates in Karachi and is preparing to launch in the capital, Islamabad.
A fundraising campaign of $20 million is under way, Zakka told AFP, while investments are pouring into Pakistani start-ups.
Foreign investments in Pakistani startups exceeded $310 million last year, five times the level of 2020 and more than the previous six years combined, according to several reports.
Many of the markets pursued by venture capitalists, such as India or Indonesia, are saturated,” said Bajwa, a former director of Careem, a local ride-hailing app that Uber acquired in 2020.
According to Bajwa, Pakistan, the world's fifth most populous country, is attracting attention, and agriculture is a sector that is "completely underutilized from a technological point of view".