Drone Agricultural Technology: Implications for Sustainable Food Production in Africa

Abstract

Today, there exist poor application of drone technology on African agriculture despite their low-cost band small size. The drones have the potential to assist many African nations with rising economic development. Food production in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) is on the decrease due to factors such as: drought, locust swarm invasion, regional conflict, Covid-pandemic, climate dependent agriculture, poor soil conditions, poor Irrigation water quality and quantity, logistic challenges amongst. The introduction of advanced technologies such as the drones can provide solutions to the aforementioned challenges. The technology would enable many farmers to practice precision agriculture. The drone technology can provide platforms to raise agricultural productivity while minimizing operational costs and improving use efficiency. The drone technology is applicable in agricultural activities such as: crop and livestock health monitoring, farm water management, soil and farmland assessment, precision crop spraying, bird control and simplified, and accurate planting of crops.  The world over needs to raise food production by about 50% by 2050 to feed a growing population of about 9 billion people. Farming communities and actors in African agriculture must adapt to climate change and other challenges in food production for a sustainable drone technology.