By Heman Zakaria
Foodtech is an ecosystem made of all the agrifood entrepreneurs and startups, that is from production to distribution, innovating on the products, distribution, marketing, or business model.
Foodtech is divided into six categories which include Agtech, food science, food services, customer tech, delivery, and supply chain, some of which are partially observed as business ventures in Nigeria and some are not well known.
However, the knowledge of what food tech is will give the country a better view and position for the country to use as a driver of food security and economic development.
This article will be looking briefly and exclusively into the six major categories of food tech which include Agtech, food science, food services, customer tech, delivery, and supply chain.
Agriculture Technology/Agric-Tech (AgTech): it’s a segment of foodtech and agriculture that comes up with solutions to improving farming output and quality, using drone sensors and farm management software.
Agriculture Technology / Agric-Tech (AgTech) is also about new farm products next-generation farms and urban farming.
Agriculture Technology / Agric-Tech (AgTech) covers farm management; which has to do with solutions and software developed to assist farmers in managing, organizing, and optimizing all of the tasks on their farms, this segment of AgTech can be fully developed in Nigeria by and through our educational institutions.
Farm robotics are solutions providing farmers with robots to replace or complement humans to carry out challenging farm activities, farm robotics in a new dimension to agricultural practices which can be developed in synergy between research institutions, Agric engineers, and tech specialists.
Indoor farming and novel farms are urban and indoor farms developed to bridge climatic change, seasonal farming, climate change, and soil availability, and the most recently developed is the Hybrid Farm by Heman Gabriel Zakaria the first of its kind, which is also a hydroponics, aeroponics, aquaponics, irrigation and precision farming specialist and researcher, this is a type of AgTech that can be used to solve so many of Nigeria’s climate change problems relating to agriculture.
Agriculture marketplaces are e-commerce platforms for farmers with products ranging from seeds to equipment, the COVID-19 pandemic has been the major motivation for e-commerce business in Nigeria even in agriculture.
While Ag-Biotech has to do with innovation in living systems and organisms for agriculture and crop health. Animal Feed; has to do with the development of feed and feed formulation for animal growth and health, which is a business with decades of existence in Nigeria.
Food Science is a field of foodtech that has to do with the development of new ingredients and food products, which involves the development of alternative proteins, CPG startups, drinks and beverages, functional ingredients, and pet food.
A business done by food manufacturing industries like Dangote, Nestle, Grand Cereals, etc., it is a complex business and a capital-intensive one. However, with efforts to boost the Agric MSMEs subsector, Nigeria can achieve monumental height and diversification in this sector.
Food Service is relational to food vending and e-commerce, it has to do with hospitality, restaurant, tech, and robotics in agricultural food services, they include reservation platforms, food service management, payment solutions (ePOS), virtual restaurants, food service robotics, and cloud kitchens.
Consumer Tech it is a service that helps consumers cook, identify the best food for them, and help them reach their personal goals.
Delivery: This is similar to e-commerce and involves the delivery of meal kits, new retailers, Q-commerce, restaurant delivery, discovery boxes, and delivery robotics.
Supply Chain: it is a very wide sector in food tech, it deals with supply chain and food industries, from digitalization to automation of smart and autonomous stores, food waste management, data for supply chain, and packaging.
How foodtech can be used as a driver of food security in Nigeria
FoodTech ensures the quality of food as it travels from farm to consumer, which has to do with turning to science, agriculture, nutrition, AI, and engineering solutions as a frontier in enhancing food security in Nigeria.
Though food tech may not be able to solve the economic strife that prevents individuals from obtaining adequate amounts of food, however, food-tech innovations and investments can help enhance agriculture, extend the shelf life of fresh farm produce, and provide a more sustainable food supply.
It can also improve overall food safety in Artificial intelligence and food supply chain, engineering for waste reduction in agriculture and post-harvest losses, development of computer computations for personalized nutrition, food alternatives that meet the meats, in development food tech and plant-based protein, and development of technology on the horizon in robotics in the food industry and 3D food printing which was first tested in 2007 and consists of scanning food products, splitting the objective into thin layers and fusing the layers to create a solid product.
These FoodTech solutions individually are drivers of economic growth, but fused together can be a medium for achieving sustainable food security.
