Robotics in Seychelles’ agriculture |16 June 2023

Danio Marcelin

Two young entrepreneurs, Danio Marcelin and Nathan Guillaume are set to revolutionize the tech industry in the agricultural sector, via robotics, in order to make it more efficient and advanced in Seychelles.

Mr Marcelin explained they plan to tackle the challenges in the agricultural sector by showing the various positives that robotics can have and getting the farmers on board, reducing labour costs and eventually neutralising it completely.

In addition, robots do not need food or any human essentials, and they can work 24/7 compared to a human being.

“I am pretty sure they would be on board,” they explained.

They said this project will also help immensely to raise awareness on the lack of technology in the agricultural sector in the first place. “The rest of the world is using technology, why aren’t we?” they queried.

In terms of how this will be brought to a small country like Seychelles, Mr Marcelin explained that it can be achieved through simplifying the technology itself to make it easily accessible.

“At the end of the day, growth is what we all want,” he stated.

Mr Guillaume stated that agriculture needs to be constantly evolving and although it had fell behind worldwide in recent years, it has now picked up, and different countries were moving ahead with efficient technology and robotics and Seychelles need to follow suit.

Mr Guillaume, who has been a part of the agricultural sector for some time now as a student, shared how the robotics would actually work and even the extra step of making it environmentally friendly.

The machinery will be energy efficient, promoting environment sustainability through the use of solar panels as well as recycled materials.

Mr Marcelin said they were discussing implementing power saving features, but most of all emphasising energy efficiency in the design and operation.

The robot itself will have a physical body with arms and legs or wheels. Due to the project still being in the development stages, certain tweaks and kinks still need to be sorted out before any more details can be revealed on how exactly the robots will perform their duties.

“So many things to do, so little time, it will help the farmers with all the farm duties, so they will have enough time to work on other things.”

In regards to the negative impact that human employees may potentially lose their jobs to the robots, the two young entrepreneurs said they could not guarantee that this would not happen. This is a point the two men are willing to discuss with potential investors or clients.

“However, the robot will be working on a flat area, or if the farm is on a mountain. Keeping the human employees around or letting them go would be the farmers’ personal choice,” they said.

The project requires funding and the two partners have stated that the next step is to seek potential investors for financial assistance.

The coding, software, as well as building the robots, will be done by Mr Marcelin, who stated he would seek assistance from the National Institute of Science Technology and Innovation (NISTI).

“The coding I can handle but the actual building I cannot do alone,” he said with a humble nature.

The two partners are excited and look forward to finally accomplishing their dream, by giving the project a 100 percent, working with tenacity and perspicacity, with the working ethic of their idol, Andrew Tate.

Sunny Esparon