About This Project

Build a Digital Agricultural Services Platform (DASP) that bundles three critical services — credit, insurance, and agronomic advice — into a single mobile-accessible interface, using satellite data and digital transaction histories to replace collateral requirements. Credit component: Use satellite crop monitoring and weather data to underwrite microloans of $100–$2,000 tied to specific input purchases (seeds, fertilizer) with repayment triggered by harvest cycle. This is the M-Pesa/Pula/Apollo Agriculture model, proven in Kenya, Ghana, and Nigeria. Insurance component: Index-based crop insurance triggered automatically by satellite rainfall or NDVI (vegetation index) readings — no claims process required. Eliminates the basis risk that has plagued traditional crop insurance. Extension component: AI-powered agronomy chatbot providing localized crop advisory in 50 languages, trained on CGIAR datasets and updated by local agronomists. Delivery via basic feature phone SMS as well as smartphone app.

Timeline