Mvutu

Mvutu is the first agriculture platform that offers smallholders training in modern agricultural techniques, greenhouse cultivation, drip irrigation agricultural inputs, advice, insurance, and microfinance to increase and improve their production from 0.5 to 7 tonnes per hectare. We guarantee the sale of their products using our refrigeration supply chain powered by solar energy to minimize post-harvest losses from 48% to 10%. In the Congo, around half of farmers' production never reaches the market and this loss is spread across the entire value chain from farm to market due to poor transport and storage which leads to deterioration and lack of market training for smallholders.The company buys fresh produce from small farmers and breeders at fair prices and transforms it by cleaning, sorting, packaging and marketing it. Our solar warehouses can store fruits, vegetables, eggs and chickens for 2 to 30 days. We have a growing number of customers which include hotels, wholesalers, local vendors, restaurants and supermarkets in Brazzaville.

The cold storage facilities are powered by solar energy and professional handling guarantees high quality of fresh produce, and modern green technology is applied in all activities, such as solar energy and biodiesel for irrigation and greenhouses, cooling and transportation.
Farmers in our network regularly receive location-specific weather information, also delivered in their local language. These weather updates come from around 80 weather stations across the country, ensuring accurate forecasts.

In the Congo, around half of farmers' production never reaches the market and this loss is spread across the entire value chain from farm to market due to poor transport and storage which leads to deterioration and lack of market training for smallholders.The problem: in developing countries, 45% of food goes bad mainly because of the lack of cold rooms

470 MILLION SMALL FARMERS TO LOSE 25% OF THEIR ANNUAL INCOME
Perishable foods, especially fresh fruits and vegetables, start to deteriorate as soon as they are harvested as they are cut off from their source of water and nutrition. They lose weight, texture, flavor, nutritional value and attractiveness. Cooling dramatically slows down the rate of spoilage, thereby increasing the shelf life of products.

Farms and markets, farmers lacked cold storage solutions, which meant that salable food was often wasted. The solution has been enthusiastically accepted by farmers and traders, with the five MVUTUs currently in service reaching 100% capacity utilization in August last year.

We saved 20,400 tonnes of food from spoilage in 2019 for 3,517 farmers, retailers and wholesalers, using the 24 installed and operational hubs.

It increased the household income of 3,517 smallholder farmers, retailers and wholesalers from $ 60 per month to $ 120 per month by eliminating the previous 50% of food, which was unsold or thrown away, that 50% is now stored and sold.

We offer a pay-per-view model, renting 20kg returnable plastic crates (at $ 0.50) to farmers, retailers and wholesalers to store their produce in cold rooms every day.

According to the FAO, around 6,000 tonnes of fish are harvested daily by ocean trawlers and artisanal fishermen in the Congo Basin, of which only around 2,000 tonnes are sold fresh.

The MVUTU concept was developed to help the 470 million farmers and retailers in developing countries (Rockefeller Foundation; Food Waste and Spoilage Initiative 2014), who do not have access to reliable cold storage. It is estimated that small farmers and retailers experience a 25% reduction in their income due to the loss of value in an average of 45% of their vegetable crops, 35% of their fruit crops.

This is one of the challenges that the CONGOLESE agricultural sector has struggled with for so long. How to reduce post-harvest losses to make food more available and agriculture more profitable?

This is where MVUTU comes in. While it doesn't promise to fix all issues, MVUTU is a startup tackling a key issue in the agriculture industry.
This significantly reduces operating costs for farmers and is a much more sustainable solution than anyone else. Being solar powered, cold storage systems guarantee an increase in the shelf life of perishables, especially fruits and vegetables.

The solution: walk-in solar-powered cold rooms for 24/7 storage and preservation

EXTENDS THE SHELF LIFE OF PERISHABLE FOODS FROM 2 DAYS TO 21
Our innovation, Mvutu, is a walk-in, modular, solar-powered cold room for 24/7 off-grid storage and preservation of perishable foods. It adequately addresses the problem of post-harvest losses in fruits, vegetables and other perishable foods. Mvutu is installed in the main food production and consumption centers (markets and farms), farmers place their products in clean plastic crates, these plastic crates are stacked inside the cold room. This prolongs the freshness of fruits, vegetables and other perishable foods from 2 days to about 21 days. The solar powered walk-in cold room is made up of 120mm cold room insulation panels to retain the cold. The energy of the solar panels mounted on the roof of the cold room is stored in large capacity batteries, these batteries power an inverter which in turn powers the refrigeration unit.

PAY-AS-YOU-STORE FLEXIBLE MODEL
mvutu offers farmers a flexible pay-as-you-store subscription model. In preparation for storage, farmers transfer their perishable food to our reusable crates, which fit snugly on the shelves. Farmers pay a daily flat rate for each crate of food they store.

We were confronted with challenges with the storage of products which led us to find the solution to use cold chain logistics in solar.

Currently, cold chain logistics have not been adopted in Congo by fruit and vegetable producers. This is strongly contributed to reduced access to these technologies and poor agricultural techniques of smallholders.

However, we have visited various companies outside of Congo, including Charlie's Produce (http://www.charliesproduce.com/) in Seattle, USA, which has successfully applied cold chain logistics over the years. to increase the shelf life of products, thereby generating high income and very good profit
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500 smallholder farmers, retailers and wholesalers. Another 30 MVUTUs are currently under construction across Congo, bringing the total number of Hubs to 54 by the end of 2020.

We saved 20,400 tonnes of food from spoilage in 2019 for 3,517 farmers, retailers and wholesalers, using the 24 hubs installed and operational.

It increased the household income of 3,517 smallholder farmers, retailers and wholesalers from $ 60 per month to $ 120 per month by eliminating the previous 50% of food, which was unsold or thrown away, that 50% is now stored and sold.

We offer a pay-per-view model, renting 20kg returnable plastic crates (at $ 0.50) to farmers, retailers and wholesalers to store their produce in cold rooms every day.

According to the FAO, around 6,000 tonnes of fish are harvested daily by ocean trawlers and artisanal fishermen in the Congo Basin, of which only around 2,000 tonnes are sold fresh.

 MVUTU helps farmers in emerging markets maximize their profits. We use agronomic machine learning, remote sensing, and mobile phones to deliver a customized package of credit, high-quality farm inputs, and advice that can double farm yields, starting in Congo. Apollo assesses farmer credit risk and customizes each package to a farmer's specific location using satellite data, soil data, farmer behavior data and crop yield models.

Mvutu is an agricultural technology startup connecting Farmers with Access to Finance, Premium Markets and Data. Mvutu is a platform that empowers farmers to provide them with improved seeds, agricultural inputs, training in modern farming techniques and provides a market for the sale of their agricultural products. We are developing affordable technologies to help Congolese farmers increase their productivity and minimize losses. Since the beginning, the farmers in our network have seen their income increased by 25%.

Cold storage facilities and professional handling ensure high quality of fresh produce, and modern green technology is applied in all activities, such as solar power and biodiesel for irrigation and greenhouses, cooling and transportation.

This significantly reduces operating costs for farmers and is a much more sustainable solution than anyone else. Being solar powered, cold storage systems guarantee an increase in the shelf life of perishables, especially fruits and vegetables.

Our field officers conduct weekly community-based workshops to train farmers on improved farming practices and better business practices. All direct farmer training sessions are reinforced with agronomic and business tips through digital mediums such as voice calls and talking books. All lessons and contents are delivered in farmers’ local language in order to bridge the illiteracy gap.

Due to Farmerline's voice messages, we have become more conscious of our personal hygiene and frequently wash our hands with soap and water. I have also received nose masks which I use to protect myself so I can continue to work hard and take care of my family."

Currently we have a network of 500 farmers and breeders in our network. We aim to establish 20 new cold rooms in 10 new sites with the potential to improve the resilience of 2,000 beneficiaries and save approximately 22,000 tonnes of food from deterioration per year.

Our goals include

- Join 2,000 farmers in our network

- Purchase of refrigerated trucks to complete the use of the refrigerated warehouse under construction

- Expansion by buying and installing more greenhouses in order to work with more farmers and make them benefit more

- Establishment of a modern point of sale that will facilitate distribution and increase our income while providing employment to more people

- Establishment of collection centers in different regions of the country to facilitate the aggregation of farmers' products.

We need a lot of funding, especially for cold storage facilities, the acquisition of greenhouses, drip irrigation systems, a tractor to prepare the land for farmers in our network to increase our agricultural microcredit portfolio to include more farmers in our network we have registered over 20,000 smallholder farmers who want to work with us.

We would like to take middlemen out of the supply chain altogether, but we don't have enough storage capacity. We cannot keep all the produce we get from farmers, and if we don't sell it on time it can rot and go to waste. Our current storage facility can hold 10 tonnes, which is very small and requires us to sell to avoid spoilage losses.

The retail sector in Congo is still very informal.
Traditionally, people would go to a local market, maybe on weekends, to buy fruits, vegetables, eggs and chickens and they basically just walked around and tried to select what looked good and ripe. The disadvantages of local markets are that they are often dirty and that there is a shortage of certain products in certain seasons.

We also need technical expertise in terms of setting up systems that we can use to monitor incoming and outgoing volumes, to develop a system for paying agricultural loans by mobile money. Finally, we need experienced staff at a reasonable cost, especially as we grow.

Our continued growth and increasing revenue since starting the business also indicates that the business is sustainable and has potential.

We have a few investors on board to help us with this expansion. Some investors have committed about $ 2,000,000 that they could inject into the business in the future, which will allow us to expand our network to 10,000 smallholder farmers.

But we are building a 1,000 m2 storage facility in Brazzaville that can hold up to 400 tonnes of products. We also want to have our own distribution trucks, motorcycles and bicycles so that we can serve more customers and gradually eliminate middlemen from our supply chain. We've done business in the most difficult environment over the past two halves.
With better storage mechanisms and better farming techniques, the impact will multiply and reach more farmers.

We are in the process of recruiting experienced staff to set up an agricultural microcredit system using mobile money.
We are partnering with a nationwide telephone operator to make use of a mobile-centric sales system offering text messages to DEAL-OF-THE-DAY women sellers. Mobile agents mobile-register and create profiles of farmers. Women sellers receive push SMS with attractive offers on basic foods at wholesale prices and use return calls to confirm orders

5 full-time employees in administration proposing strategies overall management of the company

10 part-time employees in the field in contact with the farmers of our network. Our teams in the field work above all on training and the fight against bad practices.

And 500 smallholders in our network who receive microcredits for training in modern agricultural techniques, agricultural inputs, greenhouses, drip irrigation systems.

We are a team of software engineers, data scientists, economists and operators with extensive experience. We value taking risks at the service of a radical scale, listening carefully, and a tireless commitment to understanding our customers and their needs.
Divine Arnaud Kouebatouka
Serial Visionary entrepreneur Industrial systems engineer specializing in solar energy • Business and financial planner • Blockchain enthusiast • Investor and partner relations • Innovation networker •
CEO of Green Tech Africa leader in environment and solar energy in Congo with more than 2000 electrified houses.

Participated in and led many seminars in collaboration with donors (IMF, World Bank, FMO, UNDP, etc.) on the issue of financing SMEs and small farmers in rural areas ...

Merveil Mavougou
Professional with 5 years of experience in the financial sector and a good knowledge of investment banking, commercial banking and specialized financial services. Responsible for blueCongou, a fleet of 100% electric cars from the Bolloré Group.

Roland Alavo is the founder and CEO of RabTech
Android development · Web development · Custom software development · Mobile application development · Training · Leadership development ·

Bahamboula wilde Agronomist 10 experience at Eco Oil is a visionary leader dedicated to making agriculture work for small farmers. Passionate about agriculture, he is able to harness the talents of others to solve problems thanks to his unwavering belief that technology can transform agriculture for the benefit of millions of farmers.

We are very happy to announce that Zando Market, a supermarket based in Brazzaville, is making its fruit and vegetable departments available to M✅utu, from now on you can find all M✅utu products at Zando Market.

M✅utu creates a mutually beneficial opportunity for consumers, farmers and investors.
For consumers, access to quality and affordable food in Congo's cities is very important; and it is at the very heart of M✅utu's existence. Living in the city doesn't mean you've settled down for just any kind of food. We want Congolese living in cities to have constant access to quality and affordable food; and we have created a unique buying culture (wholesale or share wholesale) that enables both affordability and quality.
For farmers, obtaining products directly from them and supplying consumers increases their return on investment. Our business model puts the farmer at the center of our activities, we provide them with a technical and financial contribution at zero rate, without interest for the success of their agricultural activities.
And for investors, upgrading the current M✅utu infrastructure, in order to keep the business model running and properly managed, increases the chances of profits.
M✅utu is determined to continue to expand the value chain and have more impact in Congo and hopefully African countries with huge demand for our food security solutions.

Mvutu helps farmers in emerging markets increase their profits. We use agronomic machine learning, remote sensing and mobile technology to help farmers access zero-interest interest-free credit, high-quality farm inputs and personalized advice. Our first product is a personalized set of agricultural inputs, agricultural advice and credits provided to the farmers of the Congo thus increasing and improving their production from 0.5 to 7 tonnes / hectare. We have increased the incomes of the small farmers of the 500 smallholders in our network fivefold.

Farmers either work on their own land or participate in a small-scale franchise model, cultivating Mvutu's ready-to-use land.

The company buys fruits and vegetables, eggs, broilers, from small farmers at fair prices and processes them by cleaning, sorting, packaging and marketing. We have a growing number of clients which include hotels, wholesalers, local vendors, restaurants and supermarkets in Brazzaville. .
Mvutu to increase US $ 10,000 in savings and has made it a company earning well over US $ 300,000 in the past 12 months.

Cold storage facilities and professional handling ensure high quality of fresh produce, and modern green technology is applied in all activities, such as solar power for irrigation and greenhouses, cooling and reducing transport. post-harvest losses of 48% to 10% while optimizing end-to-end storage and distribution.

The future of a company lies in the number of loyal customers, the capacity and competence of its network of collaborators, their investment strategy and the structure of the company. If all of these factors are missing from a business, it won't be too long before it closes.

One of our primary goals of starting a business selling fruit, vegetables, eggs, and chickens is to build a business that will survive on its own cash flow without the need to inject new funding from from external sources once the business is officially operational. We know that one of the ways to get approval and win over customers is to market products and services that are wholesome and always available on every street corner and accessible to the average citizen of society and accessible to the price availability in the market.
We finance our business through donations and grants so we participate in several entrepreneurial competitions, each year we inject our profit margins back into the business.
-Own funds: 25%
-Donations / Subsidies / Price: 50%
- Debt: 25%
Mvutu will ensure that the right foundations, structures and processes are in place to ensure that our staff are well taken care of. Our corporate culture is designed to drive our business to higher levels, training and reorganizing our workforce is at the forefront.
From the third year, we will achieve stable financial autonomy and plan to pay off the debts contracted from the third year.

Since the start-up we work that with our own background we have invested US $ 10,000 in savings and made it a business earning well over US $ 300,000 in the last 12 months.

Our continued growth and increasing revenue since starting the business also indicates that the business is sustainable and has potential.
With better storage mechanisms and better farming techniques, the impact will multiply and reach more farmers.

We generate income by selling directly to public market retailers and mass market supermarkets.

● Sources of income
- Sale of fruits and vegetables: We sold 5,000 cases of fruit and 3,000 cases of vegetables for a sum of US $ 200,000.
-Eggs and broilers: We sold 10,000 pallets of eggs and 3000 tons of broilers for US $ 100,000.

- Food products of all kinds (tomatoes, eggplants, onions, vegetables, peppers, avocados, mangoes, bananas, chicken eggs, etc.): we deliver them every 3 days to each public market and to supermarkets, hotels, restaurants, etc.
● Target market: more than 14 million people for the Brazzaville and kin population, for the first 3 years.

Mvutu generates income for communities and stabilizes the local economy by using cold storage and improved processing to reduce the risk of crop and post-harvest loss. Our business needs a lot of funding We need US $ 500,000 in grants to pilot our solution then we will need US $ 3 million in debt to develop our solution in another department of Congo

 A remembrance of US $ 500,000 will allow us to finance 2,000 farmers as well:
- Purchase of refrigerated trucks to complete the use of the refrigerated warehouse under construction

- Expansion by buying and installing more greenhouses in order to work with more farmers and make them benefit more

- Establishment of a modern point of sale that will facilitate distribution and increase our income while providing employment to more people

- Establishment of collection centers in different regions of the country to facilitate the aggregation of farmers' products.

We have a budget of US $ 200,000 to expand the reach of our smallholder network and our distribution footprint, and ultimately to demonstrate real impact in the lives of local farmers and informal food vendors.

But we are building a 1,000 m2 storage facility in Brazzaville that can hold up to 400 tonnes of products. We also want to have our own distribution trucks, motorcycles and bicycles so that we can serve more customers and gradually eliminate middlemen from our supply chain. We have been doing business in the most difficult environment for the past two and a half years.

We need a lot of funding, especially for cold storage facilities, the acquisition of greenhouses, drip irrigation systems, a tractor to prepare the land for farmers in our network to increase our agricultural microcredit portfolio to include more farmers in our network we have registered over 20,000 smallholder farmers who want to work with us.

We need technical expertise in terms of setting up systems that we can use to monitor incoming and outgoing volumes, to develop a system of agricultural credit payment by mobile money. Finally, we need experienced staff at a reasonable cost, especially as we grow.

I am convinced that the Mission Billion Challenge Global Prize will allow us to gain sufficient technical and financial means to achieve our objectives.

Mvutu generates income for communities and stabilizes the local economy by using cold storage and improved processing to reduce the risk of crop and post-harvest loss.

Our goals include
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- Join 2,000 farmers in our network

- Purchase of refrigerated trucks to complete the use of the refrigerated warehouse under construction

- Expansion by buying and installing more greenhouses in order to work with more farmers and make them benefit more

- Establishment of a modern point of sale that will facilitate distribution and increase our income while providing employment to more people

- Establishment of collection centers in different regions of the country to facilitate the aggregation of farmers' products.

We need technical expertise in terms of setting up systems that we can use to monitor incoming and outgoing volumes, to develop a system for paying agricultural loans by mobile money. Finally, we need experienced staff at a reasonable cost, especially as we grow. Mvutu helps farmers in emerging markets maximize their profits. We use agronomic machine learning, remote sensing, and mobile phones to deliver a customized package of credit, high-quality farm inputs, and advice that can double farm yields, starting in congo. Mvutu assesses farmer credit risk and customizes each package to a farmer's specific location using satellite data, soil data, farmer behavior data and crop yield models.

Congo is no exception to the problem of food security: the majority of products never reach the market due to food waste caused by improper transport of food, lack of cold chain storage and market information. inadequate for farmers.

We need any organization or person who will help us meet these challenges. The substantial impact on improving food security and empowering farmers through market linkages, driven by outstanding local entrepreneurs.

The company provides a stable and fair market for horticultural crops by aggregating supply and demand and improving cold chain distribution and storage infrastructure that reduce post-harvest losses and increase availability and quality. products in local markets.