Smart Farming – Precision Agriculture CASE STUDY

The document outlines how smart farming (agtech and analytics) can increase agricultural yields and efficiency in South Africa, while identifying critical barriers such as energy insecurity, high data costs, and a significant digital divide where only 9% of subsistence farmers have internet access.

• Smart farming, defined as the application of agtech and analytics, improves agricultural effectiveness and efficiency compared to conventional methods, offering benefits such as optimized planting and harvesting times, maximized yields, minimized wastage, and improved supply chain distribution.
• The adoption of smart farming in South Africa is hindered by several systemic challenges, including a lack of affordable and accessible technology for smallholders, a shortage of digital competencies, high data costs, and unreliable grid-supply of energy which leads farmers to prefer fuel-dependent tools over mechanical-operated technology.
• There is a severe digital divide in South African agriculture, with estimates indicating that only 9% of subsistence farmers have internet access.
• Scaling the smart agriculture sector requires increased public and private investment, as the global market is projected to grow from USD 13.7bn in 2020 to USD 22bn by 2025, alongside digital upskilling and infrastructure improvements.

APA

GreenCape (n.d.). Smart Farming – Precision Agriculture CASE STUDY. https://greencape.co.za/assets/FNF-Case-Study-5-smart-farming.pdf

Chicago

GreenCape. Smart Farming – Precision Agriculture CASE STUDY. n.d. https://greencape.co.za/assets/FNF-Case-Study-5-smart-farming.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=GreenCape |title=Smart Farming – Precision Agriculture CASE STUDY |url=https://greencape.co.za/assets/FNF-Case-Study-5-smart-farming.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{greencapendsmart, author = {{GreenCape}}, title = {{Smart Farming – Precision Agriculture CASE STUDY}}, institution = {GreenCape}, url = {https://greencape.co.za/assets/FNF-Case-Study-5-smart-farming.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }