PIC CAPTION: G-Avicole co-founder Eli Kokou Adjeyi is excited about the future of his startup as their innovative solution is helping poultry farmers to digitalise their operations and become more effective. Image: Supplied / G-Avicole
Africa’s poultry industry is expected to undergo significant growth in the coming years as poultry business practices increasingly become digitalised, contributing to increased efficiency and productivity within the industry. Togolese born and bred agritech startup, G-Avicole, is just one of several successful African grown agritech startups revolutionizing the poultry industry with innovative solutions. Co-founder Eli Kokou Adjeyi speaks to AfricArena’s Jabulile Sonya Ngwenya about how G-Avicole is unlocking much needed growth and potential within the poultry industry.
“G-Avicole is an all-in-one IT solution for poultry farming empowering poultry farmers in Africa,” Adjeyi says. G-Avicole is a unique digital poultry farm management tool that provides poultry farmers with a 360 degrees vision of how they can effectively manage every aspect of their poultry farms through effective digital journals and tracking metrics.
The idea for his startup, Adjeyi tells AfricArena, started when he visited his uncle’s poultry farm 15 years later, after graduating with a degree in computer science and he experienced a lightbulb moment. “I saw that my uncle was still managing the farm’s data with note pads, with all the difficulties possible and that is when the idea for G-Avicole was born. With my computer science background, I was able to come up with the basic idea to find a solution for my uncle. After that idea was formulated, it turned into a business when I discovered that all the poultry farmers in Togo had the same problems.”
The concept for G-Avicole, Adjeyi says, is that “it is a system built on poultry management software that helps poultry farmers master the management and figures of their production for proactive decision-making.”
Within this system, he says, “is the new platform service we are adding to our solution, a marketplace connected to the farm management application and a consulting and expertise service for successful poultry farms.”
Adjeyi, who never dreamt agriculture could become a viable career prospect, but has wonderful memories of visiting his uncle’s poultry farm as a child says he is passionate about growing G-Avicole into a poultry market leader within the African continent. “I am passionate about what I do because it allows me to perfectly combine what I’ve learned at university with an activity I’ve been passionate about since I was very young, and also because poultry farming in Africa is looking promising. It is a great opportunity to make an impact.”
An agritech startup that is under the auspices of the SAIS powered by GIZ program, G-Avicole, which Adjeyi co-founded with friend and classmate in 202, is rapidly gaining traction through word-of-mouth marketing. Adjeyi shares the defining moment when he knew there was a need for their solution within the market. “When the owner of one of the biggest farms in Senegal came to Togo to meet with us about using our solution, we realized there was real potential in what we were doing.”
“We haven’t raised any funds yet, as we are still in bootstrapping mode, but we hope to do our first round soon,” says Adjeyi. “We are looking to raise $110,00 and these funds will be allocated to product development, introducing IoT, AI, new functionalities, marketplace, marketing and strategy and talent acquisition.”
The last point Adjeyi speaks about, talent acquisition is a pain point for many startups. While the covid pandemic “didn’t have too much of an impact different from the general impact on the world as a whole, such as soaring prices contrasting with reduced purchasing power; we are faced with the problem of acquiring and retaining competent and committed human resources.”
Talent acquisition, he points out, has been one of the main challenges for G-Avicole. “For a young startup without many resources to offer a better employment contract, it’s not easy. We managed to get around this problem with win-win partnership models to enable people to identify with the vision and move forward with us beyond what is paid each month.”
This solution is just one of many examples of how startups think creatively out of the box to solve challenging problems. On top of the talent acquisition challenge, Adjeyi adds that another challenge he and his team are currently navigating is the permanent funding winter in the geographical area where G-Avicole is located. “To move forward with this situation, we're still working on our investment readinesss, our traction and all the elements necessary for successful fundraising. We're organizing our development around the continuous improvement of our solutions.”
While Africa’s agritech sector is showing signs of significant growth, with the continent poised to become a global agritech hub valued at $1 trillion by 2030, while exciting for investors, it can be challenging for agritech startups pioneering their innovative solutions.
What keeps Adjeyi and his team going is some business wisdom a mentor shared with Kokou, which Adjeyi recalls is, “you can't stop looking for customers - they're the lifeblood of your business today, and they'll make it easy for investors to take an interest in you tomorrow.” This, Adjeyi says, is true. He advises startups operating within the agritech sector to keep a healthy pipeline of customers and maintain excellent customer relationships with your customers that keep you top of mind in their lives, and they will always come back to you and refer others to you.
As for new innovators, looking to break into agritech, which is a collaborative sector, he says: “It is important to remember we're in the agritech business, applying technology to a sector and a profession that for centuries has functioned without technology, especially in Africa. We mustn't forget the evangelization aspect, and we mustn't create just a solution for farmers, but work with them to ensure that they use it.”
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