AgriTech in Africa Can Pave the Way for Global Food Security

“Humanitarian aid should never be a challenge for African societies. If we can coordinate and manage production among 33 million smaller holder farmers, we have enough for ourselves and to feed the world.”

Tendai Chitapi, the co-founder of the agritech startup Kuronga, has lived and worked in some of the biggest cities in the world. During a 17-year career in finance, his humble beginnings in Harare took him to Durban, then Shanghai, Dubai, and finally Sandton. No longer inspired by the glamour of a big city life, Chitapi packed it all up to find home on a farm in Vaal River.

“If you told me 5-years ago that I would be working with the land as a farmer, I would have laughed,” he says. While on his farm, listening to the turtle doves cooing, he adds, “I will never go back into a corporate space. The relationship with the land and farming is a daily teacher”.

Kuronga was established by Chitapi and his childhood friend Oliver Windram. Though their paths crossed over the years, their journeys were remarkably different. Chitapi was fortunate to attend private school on a scholarship. His academic gifts were further supported into university by a well-known audit and consulting firm. While passion at the time guided his heart towards genetic engineering, lack if access to fund this route ultimately led him to pursue a career in accounting. As Chitapi climbed his way up the corporate ladder, honing his skills in business development, Windram was establishing himself in research and innovation, pursuing his doctorate and then post doctorate in plant pathology.

“I went to China with misconceptions, and it turned out to be an eye-opening experience. Shanghai is very advanced in infrastructure and like a different world,” he says. “But they are not superhumans in Asia. We are equally capable of building public systems and utilities that are effective. We must nurture skills locally and elevate leadership that doesn’t take shortcuts,” he says. “I am encouraged by the potential of Africa. I am still hopeful, that’s why I’m here. It is my passion and my heart. We are not any less capable than people elsewhere.”

Born in Zimbabwe, a country that has a tumultuous history with agriculture, Chitapi and Windram identified a challenge of smallholder farmers that cuts across Africa’s extensive agricultural landscape. Kuronga, a Shona word for problem solving, is a company that uses AI to reduce food waste, improve food quality, and coordinate smallholder farmers into a larger, stable network.

“Small farmers in Africa are the most underutilised resource on the continent. We must support farmers break out of poverty, make their land productive, grow quality crops, and access markets,” he says. “Humanitarian aid should never be a challenge for African societies. If we can coordinate and manage production among 33 million smaller holder farmers, we have enough for ourselves and to feed the world.