Johannesburg, 07 Feb 2019
IFS, the global enterprise applications company, and Matsei Technologies and Consulting, a key South African IFS business partner, have collaborated to create a digital aquaponics farming solution that will help feed the nation, drive job creation and support the rise of innovative small businesses.
IFS and its partner, Matsei, demonstrated today, using a live model of the working farm at their Sandton offices, how the solution leverages next-generation technologies such as the Internet of Things, Enterprise Operational Intelligence (EOI) and advanced analytics to automate and monitor fish aquaponic operations in real time.
IFS and Matsei are offering this solution as a platform to avail nutritional, high-protein foods to communities, while enabling small and medium enterprises to fast-track their entrance into the market and create sustainable employment. The two companies have committed to transferring skills to South African communities, including the youth, to develop sustainable, commercially viable businesses that also address the challenge of malnutrition among communities.
The vision is to build a South Africa of sustainable communities through this digital farming programme, changing the outlook on farming and growing the programme to accommodate new businesses, growing supply chains spanning food production, logistics, retail and other support services. These value chains and ecosystems will also provide the foundational infrastructure for government services and solutions that address socio-economic challenges such as the need for education and health services.
Stephen Keys, regional president of IFS in Asia-Pacific, the Middle East and Africa, said: “As executive sponsor for our global corporate social responsibility programme, I believe we have an obligation to give something back to the communities in which we operate, while creating value for organisations with which we do business.”
A Statistics SA survey, conducted in 2018, indicated that a third of children in Gauteng and the Free State were stunted as a result of chronic malnutrition. “This is a challenge we are passionate about helping to solve,” said Bertus van Niekerk, chief operating officer at Matsei Technologies and Consulting. “We believe that this programme is a localised African turnkey solution that encourages good nutrition for human development and behaviour, while being a sustainable community aquaponics solution for the future of Africa.”
Mohamed Cassoojee, MD and country manager for IFS in SA, added: “We believe that the proposed programme addresses one of our gravest challenges in SA, nutrition and self-sustenance, allowing technology to be a catalyst and a key enabler to unlocking the potential we have in addressing our own social ills.“
For more information about IFS, visit IFSworld.com or follow us on Twitter: @ifsworld.
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