3DIMO Seeks To Detect Livestock Health Risks Through Artificial Intelligence
3DIMO Seeks To Detect Livestock Health Risks Through Artificial Intelligence. 3DIMO is pioneering the use of novel connected technology and data-driven approaches to enable early detection of health risks among farm livestock. Its vision is to empower farmers globally with data insights that will help them in monitoring livestock health and welfare. Through the use of integrated hardware and software solutions the company connects farmers with their livestock and gives them intelligent insights of their livestock performance. It links an animal to a farmer to increase animal vaccination, reduce stock theft and connect farmers with business financial and insurance support.
2020 served to highlight the magnitude of harm that can be caused by animal-borne viruses. In livestock, undetected infections can spread rapidly and cause deaths that result in huge losses for farmers. According to Baobab Insights, to put this into context, farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa have lost up to 26% of their revenues to livestock disease-related deaths in the past 5 years. A job is also at risk for every 20 farm animals that are lost. Aware that at least 150 million of the rural farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa are either partially, or fully dependent on livestock to sustain their livelihoods, the company believes that 3DIMO is solving a crucial problem that is affecting a significant part of society.
3DIMO’s product, Thola, provides a globally accessible animal biometric identification, linking an animal to a farmer. Thola is a system that uses animal nose prints to create a biometric identity for each animal. Thola is then used to detect any health risks in livestock in real-time by leveraging infrared imagery and artificial intelligence. By detecting anomalies in livestock within a farm and nearby regions this system is able to alert local farmers should there be a breakout of disease. In-app notifications help farmers to prevent losses by seeking timely treatment or vaccination for their herd.
Baobab Insights suggests that this functionality also solves another critical issue that farmer’s face which is livestock theft. In South Africa, farmers have seen a spike in animal theft, losing $60 million worth of livestock in the last two years. Cattle rustling has also increased in scale and violence in other parts of Africa such as Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria and Cameroon. By providing an identification system that links animals to their farmers, 3DIMO is creating more transparency when it comes to animal ownership. This is especially useful in jurisdictions where it has been historically difficult to resolve animal theft disputes.
