E-Livestock Global, a Zimbabwean startup which has developed hardware and software to generate vital data on livestock, plans to expand to several new markets following its increasing performance.
E-Livestock Global was founded in 2019 and launched in 2021 to capture cattle data and enable farmers make smart decisions about their livestock.
RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) tags are attached to animals and linked to the details of the owner while scanners and mobile phones are utilized to gather data about all events in the animal’s life. This enables traceability for livestock owners in Zimbabwe.
The E-Livestock traceability system enables end-to-end visibility to the cattle supply chain powered by MasterCard’s blockchain-based Provenance.
Describing how the system works, MasterCard said at the time:
“Commercial farmers and dipping officers tag each head of cattle with a unique, ultra-high frequency RFID tag – as mandated by the Ministry of Agriculture – and register it and its owner onto the solution. Each time the animal gets dipped, vaccinated or receives medical treatment, the tag records the event onto the traceability system.
E-Livestock Global records these events to maintain a secure and tamper-proof trail of each animal’s history. This, in turn, supports the entire supply chain with trusted, transparent, and verifiable data.”
– MasterCard
According to Makuvise, the founder of E-Livestock Global:
“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.
“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.”
The system enables digital financial inclusion to cattle owners among other potential benefits starting with smallholder farmers in Zimbabwe.
“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.” – Makuvise
The startup obtained preliminary pre-seed financing to create its application and prototype carried out trial runs on five distinct cattle businesses in Zimbabwe.
“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.
Beyond Zimbabwe, E-Livestock Global expects to expand to Zambia and Mozambique once the rainy season is over, Makuvise said. Uganda and South Africa are also being considered, while globally, they are looking at several locations, including North America.
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