Farming Connect

Farm connects seeks enhance market access for food commodity produce from majorly rural small holder farmers to the urban vendors and alternative markets.

It is a web and mobile based platform linking farmers, transporters and vendors to ensure fast, easy and efficient delivery of food produce commodities to urban markets. 

We Seek to :

• Enhance access to inputs, improve quality of farmers produce and reduce production costs by providing sound extension services.
• Reduce transportation cost and produce scarcities in urban markets by streamlining collection and delivery by independent transport providers. This ensures the best and fairest market prices to urban consumers. 

Implementation of the system means we are able to help over 1.4 billion people living on less than $1.25 a day who mostly live in rural areas and depend largely on agriculture for their livelihoods.

We seek to solve the limited access to Markets by Rural based smallholder farmers. Most of them practice subsistence farming or operate largely in local markets due to lack of connectivity to more lucrative markets at regional, national or global levels.

This is majorly due to poor infrastructure networks in rural areas, lack of structured selling systems, and low quality of produce making them highly perishable attracting low market value. As a result, incentives remain weak, investments remain low, and so does the level of technology adoption and productivity, resulting into a low-level equilibrium poverty trap among farmers. 

In Kenya, there are 4.5 million smallholder farmers engaging in the food commodity market. It's estimated that over a third of their produce is lost due to a lack of proper market systems. 

Globally over 2.5 million people, managing 500 million smallholders, providing over 80% of food in Sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia, would benefit from Farming Connect. The platform identifies and links poor primary producers to productive opportunities and high-value urban markets. Enabling them to sell value-added produce, significantly increasing farmers' incomes.

Farm Connect is a web and mobile based platform that primarily looks at interlinking supply of inputs, extension services and access to markets within smallholder food commodity value chains. It looks at establishing a network of independent transporters who will be linked to inputs farm for delivery of goods to farmers and vendors to allow for buying of produce from farmers.

There is delivery of inputs to farmers either as individuals or groups by the input suppliers, in this case Moiben connections. The input suppliers then provide extension service to the farmers ensuring quality and traceability of produce.  Buyers and alternative markets for the food commodity produce are mapped out. They are then able to amalgamate their purchases from the farmers or farmer groups and have them delivered to them by the transporters who had earlier delivered inputs. 

This link ensures that the transporters make use of their carriage capacity hence creating volume based profits over margin based profits that is the current system in Kenya.

Farm Connect is a tool that is being developed to help serve smallholder farmers within Kenya. Smallholders are estimated to be 4.5 million making up to 70% of farmers in Kenya contributing up to 25% to Kenya's annual GDP earnings. Our pilot region for the system is North-Western Kenya counties of Uasin Gishu County, Bungoma and Nandi.

For 10 years we've worked with over 200,000 smallholder households in the region as inputs suppliers and also offering extension services to farmers. We have linked farmers to vendors in the region to have them off-take farmers produce for free as a means of inculcating customer loyalty. 

However, more and more farmers have demanded for the services and more buyers demanded consistency in supply and surety on quality. We entail to solve this through Farm connect. It will enable us recruit more farmers to ensure consistency of supply to vendors, increase vendors to ensuring  stable markets for the farmer and enable independent transporters maximize their carriage capabilities with  Leading to a win-win situation for the key beneficiaries of the system.

Sustainable cities, zero hunger and feeding over 3 billion world population by 2050, needs fast, easy and efficient supply of food commodity. 

A bulk of this population will be in developing countries where limited market access by farmers vis-a-vis urban vendors supply shortage has led to skewed market prices, low rural prices and exaggerated urban prices. 

Farm Connect seeks to bridge this gap by linking the 3 key partners in the system to enhance supply and quality of food commodity produce in urban center while ensuring fair and consistent income for rural farmers. 

Farm Connect sets itself apart from other agricultural mobile applications in that it not only offers market access to farmers also a sound and independent extension and training service. 

It's the first that considers the quality of the produce from farmers from the initial stages and this will assist in produce tracing enhancing access to niche and diverse markets. and also what the buyers and end-user customers require. We have done this to be able to boost nutrition and enhance tracing of food commodities in the markets.  

Farm connect looks at competing with the likes of Twiga Foods in offering market access to farmers within East Africa, Uber freights in offering freight services in the region. What sets us apart from our competitors is we are the first that is looking at farmers directly and offering them extension service, access to quality inputs, and business development service to the farmers.

In terms of freight services, we are able to rope in independent transporters who are not linked to any corporate entity and make up a bulk of the freight carriers industry.  

Farming Connect is mobile-based application software that can operate on both android and iOS platforms.

It's a hybrid that incorporates a taxi-hailing type system and customer monitoring system to offer both freight and extension service. 

Farm Connects works on the same concept as taxi-hailing services in use in various parts of the world such as Uber, Bolt, and many others. As it is an android and iOS platform. These services have been huge in enhancing the convenience of taxi services and also improving access to various groups by providing fair affordable prices.

Farm Connect seeks to have a similar model for freight services tailored for Agriculture commodities within the East African Region. 

Within Kenya, we have similar systems such as Twiga Foods who offer similar services without the extension service model. Most Agriculture extension platform doesn't offer personalized services to the farmers but generic advice without any human touch or face to them.

Farming Connect primary Mission is to form a connecting point for various stakeholders in the Food Commodity Value Chains. We seek to help make connections for enhanced livelihoods both in the supply (Farmers) side and Demand (Buyers) side. 

On the supply side, our theory of change is that with better market access, the farmers will be able to better improve their livelihoods and as such improved purchasing power and better investment in their farms in terms of inputs use such as seeds, fertilizer and appropriate Agrochemicals, Moiben Connections primary business. 

For the demand side, we envision that urban consumers will be able to appreciate the quality of the food commodities and efficiency in delivering directly from the farmers. As such they would be willing to pay a fair premium price to continue accessing the goods.

Farming Connect main activities will be offering a platform where buyers of food commodities can be able to link through transporters to help deliver their goods directly from Farmers. Farmers on the other hand have access to markets for their produce, inputs from the Retail Inputs suppliers and the best possible extension service helping them produce quality produce at low costs.

Farm Connects seeks to overall provide easy and affordable movement of goods to and from farmers. This will enable fast and efficient delivery of goods to buyers such as hotels and institutions. Overall, farmers sell easily to urban traders and as such enable the stabilizing of prices in a win-win manner for all. 

As stated earlier, the number of smallholder farmers in Kenya is about 4.5 million. Most of these farmers are our potential clientele for the Farm Connect system. 

As the system is currently in development there aren't any farmers served with Farm Connect. However, Moiben Connections currently serves about 20,000 farmers offering inputs, extension services, and linkages to markets. They are working with about 100 transporters and some 200 buyers within Uasin Gishu County in Kenya.

Within the first year of launching, we envision to draw in up to 200,000 farmers in the Moiben Connections Data Base. We are also looking at roping in up to 10,000 possible transporters and some 10,000 buyers and vendors.

Over the 5 year period, Farming Connects is looking at growing into the East African Region with at least a million farmers in each of the 3 East African countries that the system will be mostly used, roping in over 200,000 transporters combined. We also plan to have international buyers of commodities use the platform especially those in the middle east countries as preparation for the 2022 world cup intensifies. 

Our goal for the next 5 years can be categorized in two forms. Firstly in terms of usage of the platform in terms of scope and breadth. Secondly Investment into the system.

We are looking at Farm Connect being the choice for most farmers in terms of how they access inputs, extension services, and market opportunities. To this end, we are targeting to launch in Tanzania and Uganda by 2025 and eventually  Burundi, Rwanda, and Eastern Congo by 2030. 

In 5 years' time we want to build our user base in Kenya to at least 1 million smallholder farmers. This will help us draw in revenues of up to $5,000,000 annually to help run the platform but also pay farmers and transporters.  Internally we wish to build our staff capacity in terms of manpower and expertise especially within the first 3 years either through partnerships and hiring. 

In terms of investments, we would like to draw in of up to $1,000,000 investment from various food commodity markets players within the region such as Azam, a multi-million dollar enterprise that works in food commodities like flour and confectioneries, freight services, and media within Tanzania and Kenya. 

There Key barriers for the system will majorly be :

1. Access to appropriate technologies and technical skills
2. Infrastructure limitation especially in terms of roads to access farmers who will be too remote for the transporters to reach
3. Payment issues as the use of cash for payments will pose a major security risk 
4. Political Risks and Barriers. The system is eventually intended to work initially across county borders and eventually across international borders and this comes with its own intricate political play and risks.
5. Getting enough off-takers of farmers to produce and a disintegrated supply from farmers. 
6. Credit Risks as there will need to effect prompt payment to farmers and transporters.
7. Cybersecurity risks. As the system functions within the internet, there might be a risk from hacking and fraud. 

In terms of the above-mentioned risks, to mitigate against them we look at :

1. Risk of access to Technology and technical skills - Develop partnerships with institutions such as Moringa School to jointly develop solutions to the system and also be able to absorb some of their graduating students as staff. 
2. Payment issues - We look to partner with the various mobile payment platform to reduce the issue of handling vast amounts of cash and also help ease of paying farmers and transporters. 
3. In terms of Infrastructure, farmers supply consistency and accessing buyers, we look at working with farmer groups and cooperatives to aggregate purchasing and delivery to farmers.
4. Strategic partnerships with institutions such as Moringa School, Moi University Eldoret, Corporates like Safaricom and Airtel, Non-Government, and Non-Profits such as FPEAK in Kenya will also help mitigate most of the risks involved in operating the platform.

Farming Connect is an idea that stems from the work of Moiben Connections, a limited company founded in 2002 that deals in profit distribution and retailing of Agriculture Inputs within Kenya. Since 2015 they have been working on a consumer-based retailing model that looks at not only inputs sales to farmers but also value addition through training and enhancing market access by farmers. 

Farming Connects is looking at combining their expertise within the sector to scale up their efforts and draw more farmers into their network while diversifying into new investment opportunities. 

Moiben connections limited has 38 fulltime staff most trained in consumer-based marketing and extension service delivery. Since 2015 Moiben has been able to train over 40 independent extension service providers that can be roped into the Farming connect system.

Farming Connect is a subsidiary of Moiben is currently on its start-up phase and consist of 3 parttime staff who are working on the application development and strategy formulation. 

The mother company, Moiben Connections, has over 10 years of experience within the agriculture inputs market. They have a vast database of farmers, retailers, inputs firms, transporters, and buyers that will be important in the mobilization of clients for the application. 

For the success of the application, we have put together an inclusive, multidisciplinary conception team that draws experience and expertise from various key sectors. They include: 

1. Managing Director - Male-MSc. Crop Protection. He has over 15 years of working within the agro-inputs sector serving various clients across the sector. His experience and expertise will be critical in developing our extension service.
2. Operations and Procurement Director- Female- BSc. Food Science & Nutrition. With over 6 years in coordinating procurement of Agro-Inputs. Worked with prenatal and infant babies advocating for better feeding and nutrition.   
3. Chief Accountant: Female- BSc. Accounting/CPA K. A certified public accountant with experience working with various development partners. 
4. Transport: Female- Diploma in Supply chain management. Clear understanding of the logistics and transport system in East Africa, a key component in helping with linkages to transporters.  
5. Outreach and Sales Manager-Male - BSc. Sales & Marketing. Experienced in Low-Income households marketing. Abilities will be useful in marketing the platform to the various stakeholders. 
6. Human Resource Manager- Male - Diploma in Human Resource, experienced in coordinating a large staff project under different capacities.
7. IT consultant - Bsc - Computer science and Computer Science
8. Poject Planning Consultant - MA - Project planning and development. 

Farm Connect is a new platform we are looking a developing as such haven't partnered with anyone as yet.

For Moiben Connections we have worked the following organizations as partners:

1. Kenya Markets Trust - A local NGO where we work on promoting consumer driven marketing in the region. Worked in developing private sector led extension service delivery and farmer driven inputs provision.
2. Farmyard International - A local inputs importer with whom we are working with to ensure timely delivery of inputs to farmers.
3. Uasin Gishu County Government - To promote extensions service delivery to farmers and also look at markets for farmers produce. 

Urban and Rural commodity markets are highly skewed. Farmers have limited access to markets due to infrastructure and location thus normally sell at farm gate prices  which are are low and at the dictate of a broker. Urban buyers buy same commodity from brokers at highly exorbitant prices. Transporters often charge to and from to deliver goods as chances of getting return cargo are usually slim. Ultimately this makes the goods pricey and urban consumer households eventually feel the pinch. The farmer in the rural area however get next to nothing for their investments and most are lucky if they break even.  

We are looking to develop Farm Connect comes in to solve this problem. It will be mobile and web based application system that will be able to link Farmers,Retail Input suppliers, Transporters and Food Commodity buyers. The system seeks to have them access quality,affordable and quick means of transporting their products among each other.  

Through farm connect we will be able to map out retail inputs providers to be able to get inputs to their farmers easily through the various transporters and also enable food commodity buyers such as hotels and institutions gain access to quality produce from the farmers. 

Through the app the buyers get to see what the farmers have and as such flag the nearest transporter to the farmer to pick his goods and pays for goods and transportation cost. This will then be remitted to the farmer and transporter less commission and administrative costs. 

Our reasons for applying to become a solver stems from two key constraints.

1. Limitations of funds and as such, we look to apply for a grant seed funding of $20,000. This will enable us to finish the setup and initial management of the platform
2. Limitation in technical know-how. In as much as we have an inhouse developer, software development is still a grey area to us as Moiben connections. As such we would seek help in recruiting individuals who would assist in software development and management. 
3. We'd also want to tap into the vast network that Solve has to enable us market the platform to various stakeholders and clients.  

In summary, we are applying for a seed funding grant of $20,000 to develop the platform and also technical advice in launching the application

1. Business Model - Help in thinking through the business model and how best to implement it.
2. Solution Technology - To help with the integrating of the two ideas into one system. The Market Access and Extension service delivery.
3. Funding and Revenue Model - We are seeking grant seed funding of up to $20,000 to help with the initial setup and development of the platform. We'd also requesting assistance in developing functional and sustainable revenue models.
4. Talent Recruitment - Through solve network to be able to hire good staff especially system management particularly cybersecurity.
5. Legal and regulatory matters - As the system might not be too new we'd require advice on copyright issues and also international relations when we deploy across various national borders. 
6. Marketing and Media Exposure - How best to sell the platform to target groups and the general public. 

Some of the Key Organizations we would wish to work with on this might include:

1. Uber Freights - As a leader in taxi-hailing and recently launched uber freights to see how best to develop a similar system in East Africa
2. Moringa School - To tap into their coding and application development skills to enhance service provision to farmers.
3. Syngenta Foundation - To pilot farm-gate delivery of inputs to farmers and also modelling best extension service delivery system.
4. MIT Sloan School of Management - To tap into their skills and knowledge in helping set up social enterprises and managing business start-ups.