Honey Flow Africa is an organization doing phenomenal things in the beekeeping industry. We caught up with the Co-founder, Mr. Joshua Agbomedarho to hear more about the vision and about him. Enjoy!
Let’s meet Joshua Agbomedarho
Joshua Agbomedarho is the co-founder and COO of Honey Flow Africa. Honey Flow Africa optimizes beekeeping operations by introducing data-driven solutions that improve the predictability in honey production and honey processing. Founded in Nigeria, Honeyflow allows beekeepers to use sensors to monitor their hives remotely through a smartphone app. Through artificial intelligence, the device monitors temperature and humidity to ensure that optimal conditions are contained.
The company was part of the finalist at the prestigious TechCrunch Battlefield Africa in 2018, finalist at Startup Nigria organised by the office of the Vice President of Nigeria in 2018. Honey Flow Africa became the first African company selected to be part of Brinc MENA Spring 2019 accelerator program in Bahrain. The company has also received wide media coverage, including by international media such as CNN and TechCrunch. Joshua just became a Global Shaper of the World Economic Forum.
He is also a chief volunteer at One African child, where he promotes the mission of supporting the education of African children in marginalized communities, in order to raise proactive agents of change in local communities. Joshua holds a bachelor’s degree in Agriculture Economics and Extension from the University of Port Harcourt.
Joshua is a founding member and also a member of the leadership team, Singularity University Abuja chapter. Joshua has a passion for bringing technology enabled solutions to the food production and food value chain.
You are co-founder with both Honey Flow Africa and Insekt Farm, could you tell us what makes you so passionate about this industry/Insects and bees?
Bees 🐝 are very vital to man’s food production. Over 70% of the food we consume are pollinated by these wonderful creatures. As little as they’re, they have robust contributions to our survival as a species, so it’s imperative we take proper measures in caring for them.
Albert Einstein said “If the bee disappeared off the face of the Earth, man would only have four years left to live.” That’s our biggest motivation running Honey Flow Africa.
In our quest to tackle the problem of ever increasing cost of livestock feed that makes the operation cost of running an animal husbandry expensive, Inseckt farm was born. The main aim is to proffer alternative sources of livestock feed that’s cost effective, driving down the price of feed would ensure less cost of production for livestock farmers. The long term benefit would make livestock farming more profitable as herders would be able to expand their herd size.
How was Honey Flow Africa birthed and what has been the most difficult part of your job?
Honey Flow Africa was born when Amaete Umanah and Joshua Agbomedarho met at a mutual friends event and started a conversation on the possibility of collaborating on projects geared towards advancing agriculture and ensuring food security. Honey Flow Africa became first amongst many plans and projects.
Are there days you feel like giving up as an entrepreneur? How do you deal on those days?
The road to entrepreneurship isn’t all rosy. It’s filled with so much excitement and uncertainties, having people believe in you and support you all through your journey is important while walking this path. On the not so great days, our support system (those who believe in us) motivate us to keep up the good work.
Could you tell us more about your experience being a TechCrunch Battlefield Africa finalist? How would you say the team at Honey flow Africa prepared to get to the finalist stage? What were the key lesson points?
On hearing we made it to the finals of TechCrunch Battlefield, we were excited and scared at the same time because we knew it was a huge opportunity for us to showcase our company to the continent and other parts of the world. That was a huge responsibility for us.
You have been doing very great with your brand, what has been your expansion strategy and where do you see your brand going in the next few years?
Our goal is to become the largest producer of Honey on the continent, with over one million connected hives with IoT devices.
Our concept is an innovative beekeeping technology that could excite and empower young people to further transform beekeeping and the agriculture sector. So we expect the younger generation and hobbyist to easily jump on using our solution once devices get to their shelves.
At Developing Afrika, we believe so much in reading books, “What book would you suggest every entrepreneur or youth should read”?
There are lots of great books. Amongst my favorite are
- Rich Dad Poor Dad – Robert Kiyosaki (my first recommendation for newbie)
- Zero to One – Peter Thiel
- Lean Startup by Eric Ries
- The Hard Things About Hard Things by Michael Orowitz
- Venture Deals by Brad Feld and Jason Mendelson
What problems have you seen in our nation and how do you think we can fix it as individuals?
There are lots of problems within our nation demanding our solutions. Virtually all sectors of our economy need innovation from healthcare to agriculture, logistics, housing.
We all have to think outside the box and come up with relevant scalable solutions for each industry.
Could you tell us more about how the IoT apiary monitoring system works? How receptive has this been in the industry?
This is one area of agriculture that has not received as much attention, even though it is not as capital intensive and does not require much land is beekeeping. Our solution is quite new in the industry and innovative.
How do you wind down after work?
House Parties, Hangouts, Cookouts, spending more time with loved ones and traveling
What are your top 3 personal development tips aside from reading books?
- Podcasts
- Lots of Videos
- Connection with Industry leaders
How can our readers reach you?
Shoot me an email
