A Game-Changing Investment
3Farmate Robotics, a Ghanaian startup, secured a $100,000 investment in July 2024 from Alexis Ohanian’s Seven Seven Six. This significant backing underscores the potential of African innovation in addressing longstanding agricultural challenges. Since its inception in 2021, 3Farmate Robotics has focused on improving its prototype of an automated seed-planting mechanism. If successful, it will revolutionize small-holder farming in the country.
The Economic and Social Ripple Effects
From a development standpoint, 3Farmate Robotics’ R&D work promises much – the support of angel investors like Ohanian has far-reaching implications for the country’s agricultural and economic landscape. As 3Farmate and similar AI-powered startups expand, the collective impact on job creation in manufacturing, R&D, and technical support can boost local economies.
Additionally, locally manufactured precision agriculture tools can help improve food security by reducing post-harvest losses and increasing efficiency, especially in regions highly vulnerable to climate change. The potential environmental benefits are equally compelling, as such technologies minimize resource waste while promoting sustainable farming practices. Furthermore, startups like 3Farmate Robotics (and their future competitors) are bound to inspire the next generation of agritech entrepreneurs, showcasing the untapped potential of African innovation on the national and continental stage.
Scaling Policies Through Option C Thinking
For Ghana to fully harness the potential of agritech startups, however, it is essential to create and scale innovative and effective policies. Ghana’s history of development policy is replete with persistent failures to address the complexities of scaling innovations. These often result from a phenomenon analogous to a “voltage drop,” where the effectiveness of interventions diminishes over time after the initial “enthusiasm.” An old Akan phrase best captures this tendency – Ehuru a, edwo.
Professor John List, writing last week (February 15, 2025) offers “Option C Thinking” as a viable solution. List urges developing countries to add a third option “…to traditional A/B tests, that accounts for the realities of a programme implemented at scale. By flipping the traditional research and policy-development model, researchers can generate policy-based evidence to help policymakers scale the best policies.” Adopting this approach could help developing countries like Ghana to ensure that interventions remain impactful over time and across diverse contexts and populations.
Ghana Innovation and Startups Act: A Model for Policy Support
One promising initiative is the Ghana Innovation and Startups Act (GIASA) project, a collaborative effort between Ghana’s private sector, academia, and government with some help from the Netherlands. This legislation enhances the startup ecosystem through co-created policies that foster entrepreneurial development. The Act will establish principles and support mechanisms to promote startup growth, attract investments, and provide investment protection. You can learn more about the timeline here: https://ghanastartupbill.org/#timeline
By incorporating instruments like innovation grants, tax incentives, infrastructure investments, and public-private partnerships, the GIASA could address scaling challenges and create a reliably supportive environment for startups like 3Farmate Robotics to thrive. As of November 2024, the consultations were close to completion. The new Mahama Administration is expected to operationalize GIASA soon. To paraphrase Douglas Adams in a different context, failure to act quickly will “make a lot of [hungry startups] very angry and be widely regarded as a bad move.”
