Kenyan agritech startup Lentera, MCFI ink deal to provide satellite based crop analysis for Mauritian farmers

The Mauritius Chemical and Fertilizer Industry (MCFI), one of Africa's oldest fertilizer manufacturer and Lentera Africa an agritech company have signed a partnership that will see Lentera provide satellite-based crop health analysis and crop modelling services for Mauritian customers of MCFI.

The farmers will get access to weekly crop health satellite images, soil moisture analysis and on demand hyper-localized weather forecast service that will be delivered via a mobile application.  The collaboration will start with sugar cane and cereals growers in Mauritius before scaling up to more customers in Eastern and Southern Africa.

Dheer Roy, Business Development Manager, MCFI said: "This is an exciting collaboration for us. We believe in working with upcoming and talented African enterprises like Lentera Africa to transform agriculture in our home country and in Africa and deliver real value to farmers through satellite and mobile technology."  

MCFI has been the market leader in the manufacture and distribution of high quality, affordable fertilizer to farmers in Eastern and Southern Africa. This new offering is part of the strategy to deliver cutting edge technology for today's farmer.

Moses Kimani, Founder and CEO of Lentera Africa said: "This is a great milestone for us. As a Pan African company, it is an honor for us to serve Mauritian farmers working with MCFI and we look forward to expanding the partnership to other African countries.''

Launched in 1975, a few years after Mauritius attained its independence, The Mauritius Chemical & Fertilizer Industry (MCFI) was founded by a local executive who considered it vital for Mauritius to stop depending on external suppliers for its fertilisers: Mr. Antoine Harel set up the country’s own fertiliser plant to serve the booming local agricultural sector. 

Today, the company has extended its operations and markets to the rest of the African Continent, with branches in Zambia and Tanzania, where it strives to offer good quality, affordable and suitable fertilisers as well as industrial chemicals to local operators. MCFI is listed on the official market of The Stock Exchange of Mauritius since 1989 and is a subsidiary of Harel Mallac & Co. Ltd. It has notably invested in research and development for biofertilisers and other solutions.

Lentera Africa  is an agriculture technology company that enables farmers to increase their yield through precision agriculture - satellite based crop health analysis, hyper localized weather updates and climate smart inputs. Lentera has received various accolades and recognition for its technology including - Afric'up Tunisia tech startup of the year, Innov8 Dubai Agritech winner, Airbus Bizlab Finalist, and WWF Pandalabs hackathon winner for technology enabling sustainable agriculture.

lenterafrica.com

www.mcfi.mu