The Zimbabwe-based E-Livestock Global, which uses hardware and software to generate vital data on the lives of livestock, plans to move into a host of new markets in the coming months and years off the back of swift uptake.
Founded in 2019 Chris Light and Max Makuvise along with founding board member Melissa Enge, and officially launched in 2021, E-Livestock Global has developed a system that uses hardware and software to capture data on livestock which can in turn be analysed.
Animals are tagged using RFID tags that are linked to the owner’s details. Scanners and mobile phones are used to compile information concerning all the life occurrences of the animal.
“For years rural smallholder farmers have suffered, being excluded from formal systems. Issues of ownership of cattle and the ability to settle claims on ownership have led to many, especially women, being disenfranchised,” Makuvise told Disrupt Africa.
“Whilst many nations have laws allowing for cattle to be used as collateral, a robust traceability system has precluded many farmers from participating and being financially included. Africa possesses over 20 per cent of the worlds cattle but is not able to export to many lucrative markets because of a lack of traceability systems. Many animals die needlessly, especially of tick-borne illnesses. Having a system that can track health would be of great help.”
E-Livestock Global aims to improve the livelihood of rural and commercial farmers by enabling traceability of their cattle and other livestock.
“By focusing on cutting-edge, affordable technologies, we created a world-class solution that can be applied globally. Supporting digital and financial inclusion, developed for the smallholder farmer and powered by blockchain. Most solutions focus on the top or commercial downwards. We built from the base upwards. By focusing on affordability you stand a better chance of building a national system.”
The startup received initial pre-seed funding to develop its app and prototype, and in Zimbabwe we conducted pilots on five different types of cattle operations.
“The system has been designed to work on any farm or owner of livestock. A large scale cattle ranch with over 7,000 head of cattle; an insurance company that is using biological assets as a part of policyholder assets; a stud operation with seven different pedigree herds; a medium-sized herd of 300 belonging to a tech enthusiast; and a government-controlled dip where over 1,500 animals use the services,” said Makuvise.
The results were so impressive that E-Livestock Global is pushing ahead with ambitious expansion plans.
“There has been a great deal of interest both inside Africa and on other continents. We are currently in Zimbabwe and will be expanding to Zambia and Mozambique once the rainy season is over. Uganda and South Africa are also on our radar. Multiple locations are under discussion globally including the major livestock markets such as North America,” Makuvise said.
The startup utilises a double revenue model based on initial tag sale of US$2 and modest annual subscription fee of US$1 for the core system from the start of year two.
“This model may vary by geographic location in the future. Our revenue is limited by the fact that we are just exiting from pilot phase,” said Makuvise.
Launching has not been without its challenges, but the company has overcome all that has been thrown at it so far.
“We had supply chain issues in 2020. That is why we have built a multi-layer supply chain with plenty of scalability available. A number of players are very visual and have a “wait and see” attitude. Once we demonstrated the system on our cattle we then achieved the buy-in,” Makuvise said.
