Agritech company Complete Farmer says it is using technology to help Ghanaian farmers produce quality crops, access global markets, and make informed decisions without the high cost of traditional soil testing.

Speaking on Joy FM's Super Morning Show on Friday, June 19, Innovation Manager of the Complete Farmer App, Gilbert Nii Tackie, said the platform was developed to solve some of the biggest challenges facing agriculture by combining market access, remote farm monitoring, and data-driven planning.

He explained that the company's primary objective is to connect local growers with buyers around the world.

"Complete Farmer exists to help bridge the gap between our local markets and our local growers and the global buyers or people sourcing food globally," he said.

According to him, the platform gives farmers the confidence to begin a farming season knowing there is a ready market for their produce.

"The sole aim of the app and the interfaces we've built is to create an ecosystem where a grower can easily initiate a farming process with the outlook that there's a guaranteed buyer going to help them offtake the produce once they grow," he added.

Beyond providing market access, the app allows farmers to monitor their farms remotely while receiving technical support from field experts.

"We're helping with being able to remotely monitor your farm, which gives you that added value of being able to sit in Accra, start a farm somewhere in the hinterlands in Sunyani, and still be able to check progress, still get that support from our agronomists who are on the field to help you get through the cycle effectively," Mr Tackie said.

He said that every farmer who signs onto the platform receives a structured farming guide designed to improve yields and meet international quality standards.

"Once you are onboarded with Complete Farmer, once you add your land, and once you go into starting your farm, we're giving you daily and weekly tasks that we expect you to follow so that, having gone through the cycle following those tasks, you would get that quality standard that we're looking for to easily allow offtakers to pick up your produce," he explained.

The platform combines these digital instructions with on-the-ground support from agricultural professionals.

"We're doing this in conjunction with having a network of agents and field agronomists who will constantly visit and monitor your farm to help you get clarity on where you lack any insights in terms of how to execute on those tasks," he said.

According to Mr Tackie, the recommendations are based on lessons from demonstration farms established in areas where the company operates.

"All these instructions we're giving you, we've established demo farms in the operational areas to get an idea that these instructions would really work and will really yield the results that we're looking for," he stated.

The app also enables growers to identify potential problems before they affect production.

"You can remotely look at your farm and see where maybe it's too dry or where you're at risk of pest infestation. We're allowing you to see that remotely from a handheld device," Tackie said, adding that the technology is intended to help farmers complete each production cycle more efficiently.

He believes technology will play a critical role in transforming agriculture across Ghana and the rest of Africa through greater standardisation and improved visibility.

"It's two things: standardisation and an increase in efficiency and visibility," he said.

Mr Tackie explained that different farming methods across communities often result in inconsistent crop quality, making it difficult for international buyers to rely on African producers.

"We've all had our different cultural practices and different approaches across different communities on how to grow even the same crop. Because there can be gaps between the standards we expect across board, we're not viewed as a reliable hub or a reliable place to offtake these produce," he said.

He said Complete Farmer's innovations are designed to address that challenge while reducing the cost of accessing agricultural information.

For first-time farmers, he said the platform removes the need for expensive preliminary soil testing.

"If you're a first-time farmer and you want to know what your land can do, you don't have to spend so much going to CSIR to do samples and tests," Tackie said.

Instead, users can upload information about their land and receive instant soil insights.

"If you have a large land size, you could quickly upload your land, and it will give you first-level insights of what the soil is good for in terms of the NPK composition and organic matter. You could just see that from a quick bird's-eye view and then use that to make an informed decision," he explained.

He added that the technology is designed to encourage proper planning before farmers invest in a production cycle.

"We hope you plan before you even go into the cycle and decide to be a farmer," he said.

With the app already launched, Complete Farmer is now focusing on increasing adoption through training sessions and stakeholder engagement.

Mr Tackie announced that the next webinar and workshop will take place on June 23, bringing together agronomists and business development officers to guide participants through the platform and offer practical advice on farm planning.

"The key thing for us is we want efficiency. We want people to access markets, and we want the technology to be able to support growth. We want to allow growers to effectively plan towards a farming cycle as we're already in the rainy season," he said.

Read also: Complete Farmer launches CF Grower and CF Buyer to deepen digital agriculture in Ghana