As part of our FoodTech & Sustainability series, we recently had the opportunity to catch up with a global leader in the world of AgriTech and a true flag-bearer for food sustainability and improvement, Matija Zulj, CEO & Founder of Agrivi.
Having enjoyed a very successful career in corporate IT, Matija decided that his next venture would be something that he truly cared about: solving the world's global food problem. After realising that 1 in 9 people globally are undernourished (>795 million) and that by 2050 there will be an extra 1.5 billion people in the world, resulting in the need to increase our food production by 60%, he knew there was more that he could do to help.
So, Matija started farming himself to get a real sense of the issues and quickly realised how little information is available to farmers on how to efficiently grow crops. And so Agrivi was born. As they started to do more research, more very surprising information came to light. One key indicator of the chance for innovation and improvement in farming came from the fact that on average, only 1% of farmers are able to actually tell you which their most profitable field is. Additionally, most farmers make decisions purely on gut feel, so the opportunity to evolve a very traditional process became very clear.
But, it is not without its' challenges. The average age of farmers is 50+ years old, with 1/3 of farmers globally being >65 years of age, so the audience with which they work are often cautious to change the way they have worked for decades. The adoption of their product however, has been inspiring, with so many great farmers and producers eager to improve the way they work for the better.
Through their powerful software and analytics platform, Agrivi now help thousands of farmers in over 150 countries worldwide to manage their estates, help with their production and also, to help reduce insect pest and diseases through food which, you guessed it, helps to drastically reduce the impact on climate change. They also work with food and beverage organisations to improve efficiency and advise them on best practice methods and have made an incredible start to improving efficient and sustainability at the roots level.
We hope you enjoy this episode, Agrivi are right at the front of making the world of food production a better place!
