Togolese farmers turn to drones for better yields

Taking to the sky, this drone leaves for a precise mission on a plantation in Kovié, a town located 40 km north of the Togolese capital, Lomé.

By flying over these plantations, technicians on site have a number of objectives, including to collect data to help in soil fertilization.

The drones are also used by technicians to detect diseases and propose appropriate treatments. The modern approach is a relief to local farmers.

''Their way of spraying is better than our way. We need to walk through the crop to do the spraying, which damages the commodities because we walk on the rice. But they do not touch the field because everything is done in the air. We prefer their method'', said producer, Carlos Sanve.

The company known as E-Agri Sky was birth at E-Agri Business, an approach to modernize agri-business.

At this certification center, young people come from all over the continent come to get online or in-person training in digital agriculture.

''I would say that Africa is a bit behind in the use of these digital tools. But on the other hand, I wouldn’t say that it is a delay but it is a lack of will. I used to watch movies and see just white people doing it and I thought when can we get there? But since we got into it, we've seen that we've done really good. We have encountered difficulties but we adapt these digital tools to our African context'', said E-Agri Sky Coordinator, Pascal Tsekpui.

Agriculture in Togo represent 86% of rural households and contributes 40% of the national wealth. That's nearly 4 million farmers out of a population of 7 million inhabitants.