EOSDA Took Part In AgraME 2022
On October 25-26, 2022, EOS Data Analytics, a global provider of AI-powered satellite imagery analytics, and Agroxchange Technology, a digital profiling platform that facilitates access to market, credit, and inputs for farmers in Nigeria, took part in the AgraME 2022 exhibition in Dubai, the biggest event for the agricultural industry in the Middle East. The market in the region is growing extremely fast: this year, the event welcomed over 120 companies from 30 countries, with over 4,000 visitors attending in the span of two days.
In this interview, Vera Petryk, Chief Marketing Officer, and Rim Elijah, VP of Sales, both of whom visited the event on behalf of EOSDA, talk about their impressions of visiting the #1 event for Middle East countries to find and invest in technologies fueling the agricultural sector.
How Did EOSDA Decide To Participate In This Event?
Rim Elijah: Farming in the Middle East has been gradually switching to newer agricultural technologies to address climate change and various emergencies.
We know how satellite technologies can help predict the consequences of global warming, measure the greenhouse effect, fight droughts and water scarcity, increase crop yields, and ultimately be a key element in eliminating food insecurity. Therefore, we decided to take part in AgraME and show local businesses and country representatives how the technology works.The region is of particular interest to EOSDA and attending AgraMe has definitely proved to us just how vital our technology is for this market. We are keen to explore this further and are looking to expand our strategy in this market in 2023.
How Was EOSDA Presented At The Event?
Vera Petryk: EOS Data Analytics was presented with a separate stand at the exhibition. It allowed any visitor to spot and approach us, study our offerings, see our solutions in action and ask any extra questions they could have.
During the two days of the exhibition, we were constantly surrounded by business representatives interested in applying sattech to address their challenges in agriculture or providing satellite-based solutions to their clients in the region. Often, we gathered a crowd when we demonstrated our products on the TV screen.
What Challenges Does The Middle East Agricultural Market Currently Face?
Rim Elijah: The biggest challenge in this region is the droughts caused by climate change. For instance, the winter season in Iraq and Syria in 2021 was the hottest and driest season in the last 30 years. We can say that currently, the Middle East is going through a food security crisis.
Another One more challenge is the growing population of the region. Experts expect it to double within the next 25-30 years, and there’s already a lack of water for people currently inhabiting the land.
Hence, countries are looking for solutions that will not only address current problems but will also allow them to sustain the upcoming challenges.
How Can Sattech Help With Addressing These Challenges?
Rim Elijah: I expect the role of satellite technologies here to be dramatic. With data and the insights provided by the EOSDA Crop Monitoring tool, our online satellite-based precision agriculture platform for field monitoring, farmers can find out how to irrigate their fields best and thus reduce water consumption, optimize input of fertilizers, take better care of the crops, avoid soil degradation and do so much more to make farming more predictable and manageable.
Other industry players, including governments and international agencies, can leverage EOSDA solutions and analytics to reach sustainable agriculture practices and make sure they’re able to tackle any further unexpected agriculture challenges.
Are There Any Businesses In The Region Already Leveraging Sattech?
Rim Elijah: Although the Middle East started shifting towards agritech in the 2010s, many farmers still are still using traditional approaches in their fields.
One way for us to tackle this problem is to educate people about the possibilities satellite technologies bring. Hence our presence at the AgraME 2022 exhibition.
The other way is forming partnerships with existing agribusinesses in the region. One such case is our partnership with Agroxchange Technology.
Agroxchange Technology represents a digital platform helping Nigerian farmers get access to local markets, credits, and inputs. We partnered in 2021 so that they could embed our EOSDA Crop Monitoring solution in smallholder farming processes.
At AgraME 2022, Vera and I were presenting our solutions along with Adewale Adegoke, the CEO of Agroxchange Technology, so that he could show how fruitful a partnership with EOSDA can be. Here’s what he had to say about his impressions of the event:
It was a pleasure to participate in the Dubai AgraME 2022 exhibition along with EOS Data Analytics as an exclusive white label partner of EOSDA in Nigeria. During the AgraME exhibition, visitors to the EOSDA exhibition kiosk were able to learn how Agroxchange has innovatively applied earth observation for Nigerian farmers to optimize their yield and incomes. I’m looking forward to continuing our efforts to accelerate the adoption of earth observation technologies for crop production among farmers and expanding our business frontiers downstream in the Sub-Saharan region.
How Successful Was The Event For EOSDA?
Vera Petryk: It was a great pleasure for the EOS Data Analytics team to dive into the Middle East market and talk about space tech solutions at the AgraME 2022 exhibition in Dubai. We are highly impressed with how many agribusinesses are interested in implementing satellite tech solutions for agriculture and want to know how space comes to help when Earth faces challenges.
We explained how our main EOSDA Crop Monitoring platform utilizes remote sensing to provide insights into crop health, field productivity, soil moisture, and weather patterns, and how custom solutions such as yield prediction, harvest monitoring, and crop classification streamline agri experts’ operations while staying sustainable and profitable.
We expect to expand the EOS Data Analytics Partner Program with the people we met and provide our solutions to customers in the Middle East.
What Agritech Solutions Were The Attendees Most Interested In?
Vera Petryk: Since every business has a unique number of challenges and issues, we saw the biggest interest in our custom agritech solutions.
I noticed that the following three custom solutions caused the most interest and questions:
- Our Yield prediction solution, which provides 90%-accurate estimates of yields on any scale, whether it’s a field or a country.
- Crop type classification maps are able to recognize specific crops on the required territory and calculate the total area of each crop on the map.
- And Harvest dynamics monitoring. It helps enhance field management using various quantitative data.
On top of that, we build custom solutions upon request.
How Do You Evaluate The Region’s Current Potential For The Further Adoption of Satellite Technologies?
Vera Petryk: We perform extensive research about every regional market we target to know the needs and expectations of our potential customers and partners. However, such events always provide an intriguing opportunity to talk to people directly and find out about their aspirations and goals. And from what I heard at the exhibition, I am very optimistic about the fate of satellite technologies in the region.
Being the exclusive sattech company at AgraME 2022, we noticed that the potential demand for satellite imagery is impressive, and many businesses are ready to invest time and efforts to consider our solutions. We had lots of promising conversations and are looking forward to starting new partnerships and collaborations in the region now.
Apart from that, EOS Data Analytics is about to launch its constellation of seven small optical agriculture-oriented satellites called EOS SAT. The first spacecraft, EOS SAT-1, is about to be launched in December 2022, and starting with it, EOSDA will be able to acquire satellite data in 11 agri-focused bands for further analysis. By 2025, when the satellite constellation is in full operation, it will monitor over 98.5% of the largest areas of farmlands and forestlands using 13 bands in total, and I’m sure we’ll be able to boost the agriculture market of the Middle East dramatically with it.