NAME
Nduka Miracle
TITLE
Cofounder & Director, Rest of Africa, Kitovu Technology Company
LOCATION
Iseyin, Nigeria
ABOUT
Nduka Miracle co-founded Kitovu Technology Company and serves as its Director, leading initiatives that enhance productivity for smallholder farmers and reduce environmental impacts. The company has developed products such as YieldMax, which offers agronomic advice based on data science and remote sensing, eProcure, which connects farmers to buyers to reduce post-harvest losses, and StorageX, which facilitates secure storage and financial access through Electronic Warehouse Receipt systems. Through these efforts, Kitovu has helped prevent over 200,000 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions, supporting sustainable farming across Africa.
MOTIVATIONS
“In 2015, while volunteering for a faith-based NGO in Northern Nigeria, my cofounder and I happened upon a smallholder farmer working on a field with the traditional hoe and cutlass. On chatting with her, we learned that she was weeding the farm manually to raise money to pay a debt; a debt she had incurred buying inputs for her farm. Unfortunately for her, after she had planted, the rains didn’t come, and she experienced crop failure. And so, here she was, labouring hard to pay back an indebtedness that was a result of circumstances far beyond her control.
This prompted us to dig deeper and we came to a realization that the greater number of smallholder farmers in Nigeria and Africa were faced with similar challenges; they either suffered crop failure or they achieved very low yields, often at about a third of global yield averages. And why? Because they often rely on guesswork, instinct and traditional knowledge to make farming operational decisions. So, we decided to start Kitovu Technology to solve that problem and build the infrastructure that eliminates the guesswork from farmers’ decision making, ultimately leading to increased yields, reduced post-harvest losses, and increased incomes.”
IMPACTS
Since the launch of Kitovu’s climate-smart platform, there have been clear successes:
CHALLENGES
Implementing Kitovu’s initiatives has not been without obstacles:
GOALS
“At Kitovu Technology Company, our vision is to organize Africa’s food system and make it work for smallholder farmers. We hope Kitovu will lead Africa in climate-smart agricultural solutions, empowering smallholder farmers to sustainably increase productivity and resilience in the face of climate change. We plan to scale our suite of solutions across multiple African regions, focusing initially on West and East Africa. To do this, we will leverage partnerships with regional agribusinesses, financial institutions, and government programs to ensure accessibility and scalability.
To address ongoing challenges, such as limited access to digital infrastructure and financing, we are strengthening our network of community-based agents to provide last-mile linkage to the farmers, and building flexible finance options for farmers to adopt these technologies. Kitovu will also invest in R&D to adapt our solutions to different regional climate conditions, ensuring they’re effective across Africa’s diverse agricultural landscapes. This approach will enable us to support millions of smallholders and build sustainable growth in Africa’s agricultural sector.”
NDUKA’S ADVICE
“For those interested in using technology to empower smallholder farmers and drive climate resilience, here are key lessons from our journey:
Spend time with farmers to grasp their needs, challenges, and cultural practices. A one-size-fits-all solution rarely works; designs must be localized and accessible.
Sophisticated tech is only impactful if farmers can use it easily. Invest in intuitive interfaces, consider voice or SMS-based solutions, and integrate regional languages when possible. Also explore the use of community based agents so you don’t have to encumber smallholder farmers with technology.
Working with local agribusinesses, financial institutions, and cooperatives accelerates adoption and credibility. Strategic partnerships help deliver a complete solution—financial access, agronomic advice, and markets for produce.
Build flexibility into your tech to account for unpredictable weather and crop cycles, and focus on climate-smart inputs. Solutions should actively mitigate climate risks while enhancing productivity.
Affordability is key; flexible financing or microloans for tech adoption makes a difference. Designing solutions that add value to the farmers’ income encourages investment and builds trust in the long term.
Empowering farmers with tech requires patience, deep-rooted empathy, and constant adaptation. Making technology truly accessible and beneficial will drive both resilience and productivity, allowing smallholders to thrive.”
HOW YOU CAN HELP
Kitovu Technology Company is driving sustainable farming practices across Africa through climate-smart agriculture. Here’s how Nduke says you can support:
Support Kitovu by investing in our scalable climate-smart technologies and sustainable infrastructure for smallholder farmers. Businesses can collaborate on pilots, leverage our platforms for supply chain resilience, and co-create market-driven products. The businesses can leverage our farmers service centre platform, www.fsc-africa to reach farmers at the last mile thereby fostering partnerships. Strategic investments allow Kitovu to scale faster across Africa and drive greater impact, while partnerships unlock value for stakeholders within the food supply chain.
Help create an enabling environment for Kitovu’s growth by advocating for policies that support climate-smart agriculture, digital solutions, and financial inclusion for smallholder farmers. NGOs can partner with us to extend training, and policymakers can incentivize climate resilience in agriculture, accelerating the adoption of our solutions and enabling food security.
Contributions from individuals and donors can directly support training programs, farmer access to climate-resilient technologies, and the development of post-harvest infrastructure. By backing Kitovu’s mission, you help farmers improve productivity, reduce losses, and increase incomes, fostering resilient communities across Africa.
CONTACT NDUKA
https://www.linkedin.com/company/kitovutechnologycompany
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