The jury members of the "RFI – France 24 Challenge App Afrique" have selected the ten finalists for the seventh edition of the competition from more than 800 entries received from over 20 countries. Open to all Africans and young companies on the continent, this edition rewards digital innovations (websites, applications, etc.) that improve agricultural practices in the service of sustainable agriculture.
The 10 finalists and their projects:
- Rabeb Fersi for "Crop's Talk" (Tunisia): a mobile agricultural advisory application designed to help small farmers improve their productivity and resilience to climate change.
- Samantha Ruzibiza for "Bazafarm" (Rwanda): a real-time soil quality monitoring device.
- Finagnon Robert Agbovoedo for "Ki@foret" (Benin): a platform that connects collectors of non-timber forest products with traders by supplying them to the highest bidder.
- Lapaque Mbumba for "MukulimaSoko" (DRC): a digital and physical trading and renovation center that offers several services to agricultural stakeholders: an e-commerce space and a phytosanitary mutual aid space where experts can share their knowledge and farmers can report agricultural hazards that have appeared on their plantations.
- Adamou Nchange Kouotou for "OGPM" (Cameroon): a digital platform consisting of two applications: a mobile application to collect information for analyzing agricultural technical risks, and a web application that recommends the best agricultural credit decisions and facilitates technical and commercial monitoring of farmers' production.
- Lucien Medjiko for "E-Pinea" (Benin): a mobile application that connects pineapple producers with potential buyers through a dynamic map that allows users to locate pineapple fields and view their ripeness in real time. It also offers an e-commerce space where processors and suppliers can display and sell pineapple products and related services.
- Chris Ayale for "Kivugreen" (DRC): a digital platform that provides small farmers with technical information such as weather forecasts, market prices, and agricultural advice, and gives them access to the market.
- Mounir Jamaï for "Daki Farm" (Morocco): an ecosystem of applications consisting of Daki Farme-learning, which provides digital agricultural training in the local language, and Daki Farm Smart Irrigation, which allows crops to be irrigated according to plant needs and weather conditions.
- Jean Gilbert Soh Ndeh for "Pallitracks" (Cameroon): a digital application designed to ensure the traceability and management of forest wood products and agricultural products.
- Pyrrus Oreste Kouoplong Koudjou for "Clinicargo" (Cameroon): an application that offers advanced diagnostics of soils and plant diseases. It also provides various technical indicators related to soil.
The winner will receive €15,000 in funding to develop their project.
Through this competition, RFI and France 24 aim to encourage and support innovation by stimulating and supporting young African companies and developers. Digital Africa, CIRAD, IRD, AIMS, 10,000 coders, and Fanaka & co are partners in the initiative.
The first six editions focused on the areas of health (2016), girls' education (2017), sustainable development (2018), urban development and smart cities (2019), digital technology in the fight against pandemics (2020), and digital technology in children's education (2021).
Press release