The pilot, photographed from the first clearing to the last harvest.
Seventy-three photographs taken by the founder and his team in the Foumbot area: the father’s plantation in 2021, then the four phases of the Cam_Agri For Africa pilot, from September 2024 to October 2025. Each plate says what the images show, when they were taken and what the season taught.
The father’s plantation
Father’s plantation, Foumbot area
The roots of the project. The founder’s father, a farmer in the Foumbot area, taught him the craft of the land, including the production of excellent seed from his own harvests.
From the field archive · one more photograph
Land preparation and establishment
Main site, 1 ha
Clearing by fire was the local practice. The Season Planner now recommends clearing without burning, as the Ministry of Agriculture advises: fire destroys the organic matter the crop needs.
Site exposure. Monkeys, remote site, expensive transport.
Site score: water, road access, wildlife exposure, distance to market.
From the field archive · 11 more photographs
Crop development
Main site, 1 ha
The soil and the team delivered; the outcome was decided by factors outside the plot.
From the field archive · 7 more photographs
Water, the hidden cost
Main site and secondary marshy site
Fuel, labour and time made manual irrigation both costly and insufficient.
Costly, insufficient irrigation. Manual pumping from a marshy source.
Water budget and irrigation cost line, with equipment options sized to the budget.
Five water options, from rain only to drip irrigation, a monthly water balance and the irrigation cost line in every plan.
From the field archive · 3 more photographs
Climate and establishment stress
Both sites
Extreme heat yellowed the cucumbers at harvest on the main site; a few months later, heat at flowering destroyed the pepper on the secondary site, which had no automated irrigation.
Heat at flowering. Cucumbers yellowed, pepper lost.
Climate risk score for each planting window, heat alerts, irrigation need in every Season Plan.
Heat at flowering, disease pressure and water stress are scored for each of the twelve start months, with the lowest risk window highlighted.
From the field archive · 4 more photographs
Harvest and sale without packaging
Both sites
Bulk formats cut the price obtained per kilogram.
Bulk sales. 50 kg sacks at low prices.
Sales and packaging plan: channel, format, price per kilogram against bulk.
Crates, transport and the choice between the local market and city wholesale are costed in every plan, with their effect on price and losses.
From the field archive · 7 more photographs
Production on the secondary site
Secondary marshy site, 0.25 ha
A professionalised nursery and staked tomato gave good quality, but whiteflies, caterpillars and fruit rot had to be fought all season, and local prices stayed low.
Pest pressure. Whiteflies, caterpillars, fruit rot.
Pest and disease risk calendar by crop stage, alerts, photo diagnosis in a later release.
The treatment programme follows the crop stages of the standard itinerary, and disease pressure is read from the rainfall of the flowering and harvest months.
From the field archive · 10 more photographs
Relaunch of the main site
Main site, 1 ha
Days later, the election crisis halted intercity transport and closed the markets; harvests like this one found no buyers and were left in the field.
Markets closed. An election crisis at harvest time.
Context risk calendar (elections, holidays, roads, security).
Every plan flags the context of the harvest weeks; a calendar of elections, holidays and road conditions will follow.
From the field archive · 6 more photographs
Every loss in these photographs is now a line in the Season Plan.
Heat, water, packaging, pests and closed markets: the Season Planner prices each of them before the first seed is bought.
All photographs were taken by the founder and his team in the Foumbot area and are used with his permission.