In Benin, TechnoServe and visual intelligence platform Altei have signed a partnership agreement to improve cashew farming practices through the use of aerial drone imagery and artificial intelligence (AI ) as part of the CajùLab project, funded by the Belgian cooperation agency Enabel and supported by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

As part of this partnership, cashew farmers across Benin will benefit from high-tech drone, satellite and AI solutions to ultimately ensure a sustainable increase in production through land assessment.

Alteia will provide Technoserve with a turnkey digital solution to visualize drone imagery of cashew orchards and extract key agronomic indicators at the tree level, the statement said. “Existing components of the Alteia Cloud platform will be leveraged, including data management and collaborative structure and standard analytics such as tree count, land cover fraction or plant height. In addition to this, additional modules will be specifically developed by Alteia data scientists and refined to adapt to the characteristics of the cashew nut. These modules will include cashew species identification, density and health assessment as well as intercropping indicators,” says Lenaic Grignard, Agriculture and Forestry Manager at Alteia.

By mid-2021, more than 1,500 small cashew farms will be processed and analyzed. Cashew has become Benin's second export product over the years, accounting for around 17% of total exports and generating income for 200,000 farming families.