E-Agriculture

Call for Expressions of Interest - Eyes in the Sky: Smart Techs on the Ground

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Call for Expressions of Interest - Eyes in the Sky: Smart Techs on the Ground


The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) has published a Call for Expression of Interest . This call supports the usage of drones to ensure that smallholder farming needs to become more productive, more sustainable and more profitable are supported.

In the recent past, CTA has supported the use of drones in agriculture in their member countries. For example,in 2017 CTA partnered with leading private sector operators, and assisted ICT start-ups in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Jamaica, Nigeria, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia in acquiring the capacity to deliver UAS services.

CTA organised a series of activities including training on the operation of drones and mounted multispectral sensors, understanding of safety and privacy principles and regulations, management and processing of remote sensed data, development of business plans and networking opportunities. In addition, CTA provided some financial support for the acquisition of necessary equipment. 

On 26 January 2018, by issuing Decision EX.CL/Dec. 986-1007 (XXXII), the Executive Council of the African Union (AU), requested the AU and Member States to harness drones for agriculture as a selected emerging technology of relevance for the development of the African continent.

In line with this continent-wide policy recommendation, CTA, in partnership with Parrot – a global leader in the professional UAV industry - has decided to support an increase in the number of UAS operators and countries covered across Africa. Selected companies / organisations would benefit from the following:

  • Full support for one company executive to attend an 8-day training workshop in Zambia. The training will include the basics of using unmanned aerial systems for agriculture, regulations, flight planning and flying your drone, data capture and analysis, notions on data interpretation, and business model development. CTA will cover costs of international travel and accommodation;
  • Partial financial support for acquiring UAV equipment (UAV, sensor) and analytical software;
  • 1 year free access to the AIRINOV FIRST+ agriculture mapping cloud platform limited to 100 frames per day which is equivalent to 10 hectares coverage at a flight altitude of 150 meters; The frames could be cumulated over a week (700 frames).
  • Technical backstopping until the end of 2019;
  • Remote and (based on merit) onsite support for UAS business development;
  • Training (distance learning) in the use of social media for marketing purposes;
  • Marketing for UAS services via dedicated CTA social media platforms.

Expressions of interest are accepted from companies / organisations registered in Sub-Saharan Africa and operating in the ICT4Ag / agricultural / agribusiness / agriculture advisory sectors. Priority will be given to countries that already have RPAS (Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems) regulations in place which grant security of the airspace, but that also do not represent a disincentive to would-be UAS entrepreneurs/start-ups investing in delivering UAS services.

Expression of interest

Interested parties are invited to read what follows with great attention and submit the requested documents in PDF format not later than 15 March 2018 (2 PM, CET) to the following address: [email protected].

For more information visit the call page here 

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