Vodafone Business Advances Smart Agriculture in Egypt Through Strategic Partnership with Rakah
As part of its ongoing efforts to strengthen its position as a strategic partner for digital transformation in Egypt, Vodafone Business announced a new milestone in the development of agricultural practices through the launch of an integrated Internet of Things (IoT) smart agriculture ecosystem, in collaboration with Rakah, the Egyptian-Saudi company specializing in agricultural investment.
The partnership aims to transform traditional farming operations into connected, data-driven, and intelligent agricultural systems, enhancing operational efficiency, sustainability, and productivity across Rakah’s farms. The initiative reflects Vodafone Business’s commitment to delivering end-to-end IoT solutions that enable smarter and more sustainable agricultural practices nationwide, while supporting Egypt’s food security and digital transformation agenda in the agricultural sector.
The smart agriculture ecosystem is built on advanced IoT sensors, precision irrigation systems, real-time data analytics, and user-friendly digital platforms. These technologies enable farmers to optimize the use of critical resources, particularly water, fertilizers, and energy, while improving crop yields and operational efficiency. The solution also incorporates smart controllers and soil sensors that allow real-time monitoring, automated data logging, and autonomous execution of agricultural processes, supporting faster and more accurate decision-making.
Commenting on the partnership, Mahmoud El-Khatib, Vice President of Enterprise Business at Vodafone Egypt, said that the collaboration with Rakah represents a strategic step and a qualitative shift in expanding Vodafone Business’s role as a digital transformation partner in one of the most impactful sectors for the economy and society. He noted that the integrated smart farming solution combines connectivity, control, analytics, and continuous support into a single scalable platform, designed to transform agriculture into a more intelligent, connected, and data-centric operation.
El-Khatib added that Vodafone Business aims to enhance production efficiency while reducing waste in water, energy, and fertilizers, contributing to Egypt’s sustainability priorities, food security goals, and digital inclusion of agricultural areas. He also emphasized the company’s commitment to expanding network coverage in targeted agricultural zones to ensure reliable IoT connectivity and high-speed internet services for surrounding farming communities.
For his part, Dr. Salem Al-Shawy, Chairman of Rakah for Agricultural Investment and Development, highlighted the importance of the partnership, describing it as a genuine opportunity for agricultural companies, farmers, and investors in Egypt to benefit from the latest smart farming technologies. He explained that IoT-based systems provide precise tools for monitoring soil conditions, irrigation, and crop performance, while enabling data-driven decisions that improve efficiency and productivity across farms.
Dr. Al-Shawy expressed Rakah’s aspiration to expand the scope of the initiative to cover additional agricultural lands and a wider base of farmers, contributing to the development of the agricultural sector, fostering innovation, and strengthening sustainability and food security at the national level.
The solution is designed to improve the efficiency of water, electricity, and fuel consumption, while reducing fertilizer waste through precision irrigation and automated control systems. This approach maximizes land productivity, increases crop yields, and enhances overall returns. The ecosystem features a centralized web-based dashboard and mobile applications that enable remote, unified management of pivot irrigation systems, supported by periodic reports, performance indicators, operational analytics, and real-time monitoring without the need for on-site presence.
In addition, the platform relies on a unified data management system that aggregates and analyzes field data in real time, supporting predictive irrigation models, improving operational decision quality, and enhancing overall farm management efficiency. Automated processes extend across multiple stages of the agricultural workflow, including irrigation, soil measurements, pivot control, and real-time alerts and notifications, reducing manual intervention and lowering operational costs.
Alongside its smart agriculture capabilities, Vodafone Business will deploy and enhance network coverage across targeted agricultural areas to ensure reliable connectivity for IoT devices, while delivering dependable high-speed internet services to nearby farming communities. The project is being implemented in two phases: the first focuses on IoT-based monitoring, precision irrigation, real-time alerts, historical data logging, and remote control of pivot irrigation systems. The second phase will introduce more advanced capabilities, including weather station integration, real-time climate data, predictive irrigation, and automated fertilization schedules, further strengthening intelligent, automated, and sustainable agricultural operations.
Vodafone Business also emphasized that capacity building is a core pillar of the initiative. The ecosystem includes training programs for farmers and operations and maintenance teams, enabling them to operate, maintain, and troubleshoot smart irrigation systems effectively, ensuring long-term sustainability and self-reliance within agricultural sites. The solution is designed to meet the needs of a wide range of stakeholders across agriculture, food production, farming, and land development, including agricultural engineers, farm managers, and agribusiness experts.
By delivering a scalable, end-to-end ecosystem that integrates devices, connectivity, analytics, digital platforms, and continuous support services, Vodafone Business reaffirmed that the initiative provides a clear competitive advantage for its clients. The project brings together all elements of smart agriculture into a unified operational experience, delivering tangible economic, environmental, and social impact for Egypt’s agricultural sector.