Farmers Scare Birds and Shield Their Crops with High-Tech Drones

Rice farmers in Ghana are for the first time learning how to use a high-tech device that help them protect their crops from climate issues as well as hungry birds: noisy smart drones.

The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), based in the Netherlands, have set up a program to teach farmers how to control the drones to spray fertilizer and map scarce water sources. CTA’s Eye in the Sky, Smart Techs on the Ground project in Ghana first launched in 2016 and has gotten more than 2,800 local farmers involved over the past three years.

George Madjitey, CEO of GEM Industrial Solutions, says, “The drone makes work easier for farmers because it can operate over a wide range of land. Also, the children are able to stay at home with their families and do their homework instead of being on the farm.”

Cooperatives of 100 farmers, grouped by neighbourhood, join the project to split the costs and designate one or two farmers to operate the drones for all other farmers, explains Madjitey, adding “This ensures the technology reaches as many of them as possible.”