PCI and Dimagi Win Second Place at AfricaCom 2018

The Runners-up: PCI & Dimagi (right) and Akorion (left) collecting their prizes at the 2018 AfricaCom Awards on 14th November 2018.

Project Concern International (PCI) and Dimagi won second prize in the USAID-funded Fall Armyworm Tech Prize for their innovative AfriFARM mobile application at AfricaCom 2018.

The app assists agricultural extension workers in educating farmers about fall armyworm, a pest which has caused upwards of $6 billion dollars in crop damage. With the app, workers can diagnose armyworm infestation and register farms for treatment.

AfriFARM allows agricultural extension workers to not only diagnose a fall armyworm infestation but to register farms for follow-ups and treat the infestation itself.

The winners of this USAID-funded prize were announced at Africa’s largest telecom conference and awards ceremony, AfricaCom, in Cape Town.

Nairobi-based Farm.ink won first place ($150,000) for integrating a Fall Armyworm virtual advisor into its Africa Farmers Club mobile service, which already provides more than 150,000 farmers with information.

PCI and Dimagi shared the second place ‘significant award’ for $75,000 with Ugandan agritech company Akorion, who won for their diagnostic app EzyArmyWorm, an enhancement of their EzyAgric app. The app will undergo its first pilots in Malawi and Tanzania in January 2019.

Jennifer Waugaman (PCI),Delphine Pedeboy (Dimagi) and Nick Ford (PCI) at the AfricaCom Awards in Cape Town (14th November 2018)