The Internet of Things is a futuristic technology that will see hold the genesis of smart homes, smart cities together with smart farming systems evident in an electric cars generation. Well, several startups have come up to utilize the current technologies to breed new solutions before the IOT dream comes to life, but the smart farming ball so far lies in the hands of one Jaguzza farming app in Uganda.
The Jaguza app is a subsidiary solution to livestock farmers using a broad web-based management system. While farmers can actually keep track of animals using drones and identifying victimized animals through networked trackers, the Jaguza app also bridges the gap between farmers and doctors to simply farming remotely. Even when, Huawei unveiled a similar solution during the MTN expo with their 5G smart cow, the Jaguzza app utilizes the current 2G/3G/4G bands for connectivity off remote farms.
The fate of Smart Farming in Uganda
As a usual norm in Uganda, farming is a core GDP component away from the unsorted mobile money tax to the VPN stringed OTT tax. However, 5G connectivity will usher in multiple smart farming solutions which are currently pioneered by the Jaguza app which could be the ultimate solution to digital farming in Uganda. Additionally, farming will eventually turn into a digital venture one step ahead of the smart cities dream which is for now projected with CCTV cameras in the country.
During a site visit to one of the Jaguza powered farms, we witnessed rookie transmitters and basic drones tracking several herds at the cost of a single management dashboard. In addition, the basic system calls didn’t require any technical Know-how granting a clear path to smart farming which is now closer than we think.
Imagine if irrigation systems could automatically detect season changes and run automatically or trackers detecting animal diseases with an automatic call/inquiry by the system to an available doctor. This what the digital farming holds and the Ugandan based Jaguza app could be a reflection of what China and several Asian states have already implemented before the 5G dream.
