MITKASI SOFTWARE APPLICATION

In Tanzania as in most third world countries unemployment is the 'story' of the day.Graduate doctors get hired as truck drivers and lawyers as hotel waiters all in the name of earning their daily bread.More Than 80% of the unemployed engage in agriculture for subsistence but the price of what they produce is affected greatly by middlemen buying cheaply and selling at double price leaving the farmer with no way to negotiate.In the era of the CORONA virus, social distancing and the fact that most Tanzanians live from hand to mouth,this situation threatens our mere existence and survival. 

MITKASI is a software application to be used for mobile,computer and tablet users .The  "user" may be: a producer,a processor,a service provider or a consumer.

The application will conveniently link the users eliminating third party  players giving room for price negotiation,and benefiting all the parties involved.

More than 34 million Tanzanians  of a population of 54 million are engaged in  agriculture for subsistence as is in many  third world countries .

MITKASI will :

1)  open opportunities  of networking  between the main players in the agricultural sector mainly the farmers,animal keepers,beekeepers,fishermen,florists,food-processors,food and fruit venders, the domestic user and the transport service providers.

2) increase the income of the application users: easy access of required goods in the market,negotiation of goods prices and the availability of easily accessible transport  by way of google maps will simplify transactioncourage economical use of  mobile phones :Almost all Tanzanians own a mobile   phone .Apart from using this device for social interaction such as whats up.

 and Instagram while spending hard earned money on air time, the users of MITKASI  may enjoy the benefits of an entrepreneurship opportunity especially for marginalized communities.

4) To reduce CORONA infections:in this era of COVID-19 ,social distancing has necessitated the use of technology for daily  transactions  that would otherwise have needed human interaction.

It is a web based application that can be accessed through mobile phones tablets and computers that focuses on advertising farming and livestock products ready for market and facilitating convenient transportation to the desired destinations.

1.My solution serves all marginalized communities all over the world who have access to mobile phones,tablets or computers.

2.All communities involved in subsistence farming and livestock keeping ,who are willing to improve their livelihoods through unexplored entrepreneurship opportunities.

3.transporters(individuals or registered) who are willing to exploit the opportunity by transporting products being advertised from one point to another.

4.Individuals who are willing to take advantage of the application to involve in income generating activities.

Generally all involved parties will reap the benefits of increasing their incomes.

The challenge in question being "Good jobs and inclusive entrepreneurship".

The target population is the marginalized population of Tanzania and all third world countries facing the common problems of unemployment,low incomes ,high food prices,untapped technology,corrupt business practices ,unstable markets for agricultural and animal products,low opportunities for entrepreneur  activities, and the dumping of goods for high prices while the raw materials are bought at low price from the farmers by countries with more developed technology.

MITKASI software application will open markets between the producer, the service provider and the consumer among Tanzanians population of 53 million  of products as desired.

MITKASI soft ware application has 3 major unique points namely:

1) The application allows for the services of another major player- the transporter. Unlike my competitor  M-FARM  who  links the farmers among themselves and to the market leaving the farmer to arrange his own transport  ,mitkasi app allows  the transporter to log in and to see what has to be transported  and where to his own convenience. In addition to this google maps is incorporated to ensure the transporter can be tracked - to the pick-up point for easy communication and reliability

2) The application allows for communication between the producer and the buyer by telephone to facilitate negotiation of prices unlike M-FARM application where the prices advertised are fixed.

3)MITKASI application is not limited to farmers alone ,unlike the WEFARM application but also allows for processors such as bee-keepers, millers,food proccesors , whole sellers and retailers.

Mitkasi is a web based aplication that will rely on HTML,PHP,JAVASCRIPT,JAVA & SWIFT programing languages and MYSQL,SQlight for database.Html,php javascript and MYSQL will be the backbone of the main app.Users who will access the application via the computers will mainly interact with the the application created by these languages and database.For the android application most of the aplication will be intergrated with the web application but it will use JAVA and SQlight for extra functionalitie the same as the Ios app but the extra functionalities in Ios will be developed by SWIFT and SQlight.

This technology has been used in east-Africa and has  been successful among the users namely:

1)We- farm is a digital network for farmers in Tanzania.The main aim is to network farmer to farmer where they can exchange Ideas  on topics of interest, exchange expertise and solve problems from  past experience while conducting global business. We-farm also conduct radio programmes to build awareness among farmers on the best ways to grow and market crops for entrepreneurs in Tanzania .Currently it has 1 million users

2)M-farm is also a successful organisation in Kenya that depends on mobile phones to connect buyers and farmers to sell their agricultural produce to a website . The site  allows the "user" to post information as desired and to access information as needed daily.Currently it has 7000 users.

All these organisation use the mobile-phone technology as the key to reaching the desired population . M-farm and we-farm can be accessed on the internet through google search. 

My  theory of change is based on behavior and attitude change of marginalized societies who measure success among the elite by being employed in big companies , expecting fat salaries while in reality jobs are scarce and the selection process is rigged with corruption ,while the remaining 70%  of the unemployed who depend on agriculture and animal keeping are stuck in the old systems of marketing their produce , resulting into low prices of goods making the agricultural industry unattractive , un- aware of technologies available at their fingertips that have the ability to improve their lives through their mobile phones,computers or tablets like MITKASI App.

My theory of change means marketing is the key to raise selling prices ,making the target population aware of goods available , reliable transportation means timely delivery. MITKASI application  will be advertised in all major national radios such as Clouds FM radio which has 1.1 million listeners country wide and praise power radio which has more than 34.1 thousand listeners nationally. The target population being all who  are willing to change their business tactics to a more technological approach especially the marginalized population.An example of the obstacles faced in sub- Saharan Africa linked to transportation  and technology can be seen on the link www.YouTube,com on a documentary by BBC Africa concerning "a journey in the heart of Africa" featuring Congo one of the richest countries in Africa in natural resources and yet has one of the worst transportation networks in the continent. 

The project which is currently in prototype but in one year we are aiming to reach at least 30% of the agricultural sector of 34 million people  meaning 10.2 million people in Tanzania and in 5 years 80 % of the total national and east African   population of people engaged in agriculture ,processing and livestock keepers of  which means MITKASI  will be a household name.

Within the next year our main goal is to reach at least  more than 10 million people in Tanzania who engage in one way or another in the agricultural and liverstock sector for their existence and survival or even to subsidize their incomes .

This will be  possible through the radio awareness programs that will be aired on popular radio stations national wide for at least 3 months.

Within the next 5 years we hope to expand outside Tanzania to east Africa namely Uganda, Kenya and Burundi  which all have similar challenges in the agricultural sector of which  is conducted by 73 % of the total population of 442954882 people according to UN estimates as of April 17 th 2020 the total of which will be 323357064 people engage in agriculture liverstock and small scale processing. Mitkasi application may be duplicated in the region to give the desired effect mainly improved and accessible markets within the region generating entrepreneur opportunities .

The main barriers that Mitkasi  faces currently  are:

1)Financial assistance to enable to air an effective awareness campaigns through the radio for at least 3 months to reach at least 1,400,000. daily   listeners  of these radio stations (heka heka, power breakfast , praise power radio,mkulima wa kisasa-lutheran radio,Farm radio international and moshi fm- reaching farmers in remote areas )  who are mostly women taking into consideration that 80% of the agricultural sector,livestock ,food processors and entrepreneurs are women.

2)In the next 5 years our main barriers will be our competitors, especially in Kenya where there is a similar mobile application.

3) Also cultural differences may be an obstacle  in other east African countries. 

4) In the aftermath of COVIC-19 epidemic in 5 years to come the effects will be visible in the agricultural and livestock  sector, deaths will result into a weaker workforce  both financially and economically.

1) In order to broadcast to a large number of listeners of various radios connected to farmers and livestock keepers nationally, there is a need to pursue  grant assistance due to the fact that to broadcast  on one radio for a month is almost 1 million TZS( 425 USD) and in order to be effective and to build awareness to the target population  of the millions of minority farmers ,at least 3 months of awareness campaign will be necessary.

2) Our competitors will pose a barrier as the work  that MITKASI  will be doing may be seen as a repetition in areas that already are using mobile apps. Awareness campaigns on the extra  advantages of using MITKASI such as  the link to easy and accessible transportation that is unique with our competitors will solve this problem.

3) cultural differences may pose a barrier especially with languages.In the next 5 years as MITKASI expands to other east African countries, the fact that Tanzanian national language is Swahili and the awareness campaigns will be originally in Swahili, there will be a need for translation of the advertisements from Swahili to English .We will need the services of competent translators.

4) The use of mechanization (machines)in agriculture should now be em braised as a priority for all  minority farmers and livestock keepers instead of the use of the primitive tools such as the hand hoe to increase productivity and cope with the aftermath of the deadly epidemic COVIC-19 .

1)CEO and founder- full time staff

2)SOFTWARE ENGINEER-full time staff

3) IT technitians -2 part time staff

CEO and founder-

An activist with the passion to improve the lives of women especially  in the minority populations of Africa.Our CEO a professional accountant  has dedicated her work to working with women from 2004. She has engaged in girls sports activities allowing underprivileged girls sponsored by Norwegian peoples aid in 2004 and 2005 where the girls apart from exposing their soccer skills in an international audience also learnt various life skills like self confidence,communication skills, decision making skills and reproductive health education.She has also taught life skills to young adults in an NGO known as CHIPUA and organised economic activities for minority women in Magomeni district through encouraging handicrafts and marketing in diplomats circles such as THE CORONA womens organisation  . Through experience over 10 years of working with underprivileged populations comes the realization that  lack of formal employment due to our struggling economies ,has led to mass poverty in the region but fortunately agriculture and livestock farming has provided a window of opportunity for all.

SOFTWARE ENGINEER

A competent information technology scholar with an advanced diploma in computer science(2014) and currently pursuing a bachelors degree in software engineering  in  India and also the founder of an IT enterprise RODNEY ICT SOLUTIONS. He has  successfully developed his own website BONGO CLASSIFIEDS www.bongoclassifieds.com.  

2 IT TECHNICIANS

Holders of  Information Technology Advanced diplomas ( 2014) with the passion and skills to be self employed and to work on projects that will improve the lives of youth from all walks of life.

Currently due to the technical necessity of the MITKASI project my main partner is RODNEY ICT SOLUTIONS. My partner provides all the technical support and maintenance of the  MITKASI  software application.

MITKASI BUSSINESS MODEL

 Bearing in mind that almost all Tanzanians own mobile phones including the 80% of Tanzanians who are active in the  agricultural and livestock sector and also that 80 percent of those working in this sector are women the following facts are true:

The impact  

Women in all underprivileged populations bear the burden of all household chores( cleaning,cooking,taking care of the children,caring for the sick ,fetching water and fire wood  etc) together with agricultural and livestock activities.This also means taking their  products to the communal market for sale. Mitkasi application  will impact this population greatly because it will save time , resources  and effort used by going to the  community market place  and the uncertainty of selling their products.The application will link the producer with the consumer directly from their homes  providing peace of mind  to the producer.

Revenue

All "users" of the application will reap the benefits of revenue by the transactions between the "users" of the application .The application does not discriminate the "users" according to the amount of product available for sale. Meaning that a dairy farmer selling 10 titres of milk has the same market rights as a dairy  farmer with 100 liters of milk.The consumer will determine the market requirement and the price of the product will be negotiated among the two parties.

Likewise the transporter will negotiate prices with the owner of the goods to be transported and after agreement the goods will be transported resulting into  a win win situation 

Business model                                      How it works                               

1)market linkage                                    1) After being registered as a "user"

                                                              (The farmer,transporter,livestock                                                                  keeper or food processor) the 

                                                               " user"  will be required to pay a                                                                  minimum amount of 1ooo Tzs for                                                                   this service. The site will allow  the                                                                 " user 'to access required                                                                                information or to post a                                                                                 commodity for sale. 

2) Employment                                     2) a.The "user' may be a transporter  

                                                            or just  looking to make an income

                                                             by transporting goods in their area.

                                                         b.  The "user" may have agricultural 

                                                            products, livestock or processed  

                                                           commodities for sale .The site will 

                                                          provide a marketing opportunity for 

                                                          the "user" to market and negotiate

                                                         the price as desired.

This business model will ensure future sustainability of MITKASI especially maintenance, and website costs as the income received will grow as 'users' grow.

The solve community can help us overcome the following barriers:

1) financial barrier - the awareness campaigns that will be aired on all national radios that have a lot of listening time by our target populations mainly women will cost money that we will need assistance with. We strongly believe that awareness is the key to the success of the application.

The cost to air on one radio station per month is 425 USD per month  and we hope to reach 6 radio stations who have daily followers of about one million people.We will need at least 7650 USD to air for three months.

In order to cope with the increasing number of "users" of the application and to ensure effective and quality services to our target population  comes the need of a personal server and standby generator of which will cost 12000USD   and 24/7 internet access costs of

2)Technical barrier-With COVIC-19  now  and its aftermath the expected  hazards being the reduced  financial ability and work force especially in  our target population  ,there will be a need for mobilization  to change means of production from primitive tools such as the hand hoe to simple mechanized solutions. As we will have the audience of 80% of 39 million people who are engaged in agriculture and livestock farming in Tanzania and at least  3 times the amount of people in East Africa , this is a good opportunity to use  the technical support we can get from the solve team.

SOLUTION TECHNOLOGY

With COVID-19 and its aftermath, the expected impact being the reduced work force  and the few available farmers still producing under capacity using the hand hoe and primitive tools of production,there is a great need to mobilize farmers and livestock keepers to opt for more mechanized ways to improve productivity. Mitkasi will need technical advise from the solve team on means and ways to increase   the much needed productivity.

BOARD MEMBERS AND ADVISORS

This will be greatly appreciated by Mitkasi because currently the only teams that are overboard are the Information technology experts and the social presenter team. an independent advisory board would put the project into checks and balances

MONITORING AND EVALUATION

As the volume of activity with the Mitkasi application increases with expansion will come the need for an independent board for monitoring and evaluation of the project so we can receive positive feedback.

I would like to partner with organisations that give technical advise to farmers and livestock keepers on latest and affordable tools available to them so as to increase productivity with less manpower,. We also need organisations willing to do  monitoring and evaluation together with advisory  services.We  do not have any organisation in mind.

Mitkasi software applications is qualified for this prize due to  the following  reasons:

The main focus  of the application is on  the under privileged population which  a large percentage of which  depends on agriculture and livestock farming and unfortunately eighty percent of which are  women but fortunately women with mobile telephones.Women in the third world are the major means of  production for many households. The practice of polygamy goes hand in hand with the amount of wealth produced meaning that the more the wives the bigger the wealth acquired .Each wife is responsible to fend for her children  for daily household utilities.This means that extra income must be generated through either keeping poultry ,sowing vegetables or staple foods or making charcoal for sale in the local markets. MIITKASI application may make a big difference to this woman  because she now can  have assurance of market for her produce  by using her mobile phone at home as compared to wasting a whole uncertain day at the marketplace.

The main ways of which payments by  will be conducted especially the subscription fee of 1000 TZS for every "user"  will be  by convenient  mobile money transfers including Vodacom money transfer which is one of the most efficient money transfer services in east Africa.

The innovation for women prize  will be used to purchase a standby generator and a server that will ensure 100%  application time and security unlike the current use of shared hosting.

Mitkasi application is qualified for good jobs and inclusive entrepreneurship as it opens doors of unexplored  opportunities for entrepreneurship for  people who would otherwise be termed as " unemployed" in the formal sector.

These opportunities are either by providing exposure for goods for sale in a open market online   or an opportunity to transport goods to the market without the hustle and bustle of waiting for  unforeseen customers  at the road side by using a mobile application at their fingertips. Further more the eliminating of the middleman gives way to higher prices for the producer as they have direct access to the consumer.

The prize will be used to build awareness to the target population using television, radios and social media in the region.We believe that building awareness is the key to the success of mtkasi application,and reaching out to more people who have to labor to sell their products and fall victim to corrupt and unfaithful merchants.