farmsupport.ng

Sub-Saharan African rural women small holder farmers (SHFs) have two major challenges post-harvest. They lack access to market hence exploited by middlemen to the value of over 30% of the farm produce value. Since they lack storage facilities, they lose over 20% to post-harvest decay and deterioration; hence another pressure to sell to exploitative middlemen. We want to use the App Producealert.ng to connect farmers and consumers directly. This ecommerce App will combine the services of ALIBABA, DHL and UBER for the economic empowerment of the rural African women SHFs. This App will provide fresh farm produce directly to homes, restaurants and retail chains. It will increase the income of the women by over 20%, hence having more money for children’s education, healthcare and general well-being. It will also target people on health foods including people dieting; as it will reduce post-harvest contamination.

These women SHFs do not have ready contacts in the consuming community and have always relied on the middlemen despite their well-documented exploitative tendencies as reported from our field assistants.  The report indicated over 30% loss in revenue to these middlemen. This loss is in addition to farm produce damages and deteriorations due to lack of cost effective storage facilities. Most times these village women SHFs carry heavy produce to distant local markets about 2km average on foot that operates every 4 days (called the Igbo market day), hence the pressure to sell off as tomorrow is not a market day to avoid total loss.  Also field interviews of restaurants customers and homes showed their preference for fresh farm foods as part of healthy eating campaigns. Most urban and peri-urban homes told us they desire fresh farm foods at good delivery time and cost. Even the huge student market are very eager to buy cheaper fresh foods fro m SHFs. Over 90% of rural women SHFs in Nigeria face this challenge. The number may exceed a million women. The major limitation of these women is lack of access to market of which Producealert.ng App will solve.

This is a simple ecommerce App that will provide the services of Alibaba, DHL and UBER. The mechanism is simple. We build the App, train the women on its use especially the SMS and USSD features. Once the women want to harvest, they will pre-announce it on the App showing crop, location and possible quantity. The buyers or final consumers can also put up such notices thereby informing women SHFs on what has immediate demand at the moment. Once there is a buyer, the Motobike or bicycle delivery riders pick up and move to the buyer. The buyer credits the App intermediate on a system generated code for that purchase. On satisfactory delivery, the buyer clicks good sign, then the cash leaves the App account and credits the SHFs e-wallet on the App. The cash is remitted through local mobile money transfer or bank accounts. Then the produce leaves the App advert section to delivered. The buyer is quickly asked to rate the service using SMS or USSD. The App also pays the delivery motobike once the good sign is clicked. The App will collect 3% of total produce value as management fee. 

Producealert App will reduce post-harvest loss by 20% thereby helping the women reduce waste and earn more. The direct sale to final consumer attracts increased revenue of about 30% on the average that is currently lost to middlemen. The sales data will help us advice the women on what to produce more for bigger value per unit farming season. The premium pricing of supply farm fresh is extra revenue for the women which they are losing now. It will create ready jobs for the women and girls riders in the delivery chain. The consuming community will be happy to eat fresh foods especially fruits and vegetables hence adhering to nutritionist medical advice thereby saving cost on healthcare. Marginalized communities will no longer lose revenue to middlemen as commission since they now have unlimited access to the market. 

In the short term The SHFs will have options of when to sell, whom to sell to and at what price. This will be life transforming for these women and girls. This new power that Producealert App will confer on them will translate into increased revenue from farm sales. This income is dream come true as they have lost a lot to middlemen. The App will reduce post-harvest loss as more consumers are now reached by simple SMS or USSD to the App. Also the App creates new employment opportunity for the women and girls in the delivery service.

In the long-term these women and girls can set up central processing, storage and packaging centres to maximize profit. This will create their own means of value chain addition that creates more jobs and income. The sales data will serve as important component of risk assessment for finance and insurance. Such data can be mined by policy makers in designing rural economic empowerment programmes. Some of the riders can develop logistics firms for other niche markets hence growing beyond the project horizon. Some SHFs may grow special personal or community trade marks for premium pricing.

The women SHFs and the final consumers of the produce are going to be trained on the use of this App that will enable them use digital technology to sell and buy food items directly from the farm. This App will be blind to demographics that even marginalized communities can use it since it will have features that enable sales by SMS and USSD. It will make SHFs reach people that previously were almost impossible without this App. Also the patronizing home and restaurants can be assured on the timely delivery of fresh farm produce. 

We have analyzed the feasibly reports of our field assistants and decided that the App is the most affordable solution to reduce post-harvest looses by women SHFs. Even value adding chains players will use this App to buy directly from farmers, hence reducing waste just as consumers can plan their menu. Since we have not built the App we call it concept stage but we are using SMS and social media to help famers sell to final consumers. The App will help us reach more farmers and customers with less human involvement. Hence Producealert.ng App can be described as concept stage with good proof of Concept as the established.

Field data shows positive indices that this will work. Most Women SHFs currently use SMS alert to get farm inputs from the government so barrier to technology adoption has been broken. Most Nigerians including rural women SHFs rely on mobile money for cash transfer, boosting ICT penetration in many communities. During the COVID 19 nationwide lock down of 2020, logistic companies delivered food to homes. With increasing burden of health challenge most people seek wholesome foods, hence the craving for farm fresh foods. The opportunity is huge as we going to merge ALIBABA, UBER and DHL in one App for the convenience of producers (women SHFs), marketers, and consumers. 

Lets understand the life style of these rural women SHFs. They spend most of the day in the farm. When they come back they go to the local middleman to sell what they got from the farm. on market day, they trek over 2km carrying over 25kg of goods on the head and some may back their new born baby for this long trek. They are under the stress of tropical sun or rain at some point either during the journey or in the market where they are exploited by middlemen as the market day ends to avoid carrying such load home. This App will save them all these stress and at the same time increase their earnings. This App will increase their life quality and help them live longer with less musculoskeletal disorders such osteoarthritis. 

Its still at concept stage. In the next one year we will serve over 5000 women in the next two years over 100,000 will be on the platform; and over 500,000 in the next 5 years.

Measurable indicators will include the following:

• Monthly change in number of App users 9 months of launching out.
• Field and electronic survey on the demographics of the SHFs and customers
• Change is crop type or quantity annually as this may reflect demand or premium price driven production
• Income of women and girls in the delivery system before and one year of the project life
• Online poll on the relative usefulness of the App to SHFs and consuming community
• Percentage change in waste at food dumps in local markets
• Survey of the women and girls SHFs, and restaurant operators as part of monitoring and evaluation
• Field surveys in the homes of the SHFs checking on acquisition of some basic electronics and gadgets as these are most purchased from disposable income. If after 3 years they are not investing in these, then revenue feedback mechanism on the App sales will show more.

S/N

Name

Work Terms

1

Munachiso  Nwaubani

Full Time

2

Philomena Nwosu

Part Time

3

Chibueze Isikaku

Contractor

4

Favour Umezurike

Contractor

5

Okechi Ibe

Contractor

Munachiso Nwaubani a trained legal practitioner is a practicing contract communication expert. She derives joy going to rural communities discussing policies and feedback with women and girls. We have worked with her on several projects, her zeal and enthusiasm is very infectious as regards the girl child empowerment. She is the project team lead.

Philomena Nwosu a passionate ecommerce and social media marketer joins the team as media and publicity chief. After her University degree in Chemistry her passion for online marketing has propelled the participation in several trainings to brush up her marketing skills. She is happy to join this noble project.

Chibueze Isikaku a Physics and electronics graduate has spent over 5 years working in many ICT firms designing ecommerce and data base Apps. This exciting project is very dear to him. In his words Producealert will help my mum sell more; make more cash at the comfort of her home.

Chika Uwandu has specialized trainings in agribusiness, with retail and restaurant chains contacts who will readily buy up fresh produce from these SHFs. These skills will be very invaluable to the success of this project. 

 Okechi Ibe, has worked for over 7 years in both the transport and logistics firms equipping him with good street knowledge. His wealth of experience will help with registering the motorbikes with regulatory authorities, training of the riders for safety, road user laws and destination verification. 

The team is gender sensitive hence comprising over 60% women. We also have members from marginalized community who happily contributed a lot to project design. We hope to have women leaders in the farming community as part of the App board after the project grant life. This will include the disabled persons as we are equal opportunity focused organization. We are open to collaborations and partnerships in our drive to be one of the foremost NGOs embracing persons from all belief systems, communities and gender. 

To help rural African women SHFs sell their farm produce online to reduce exploitation by middlemen, post-harvest loss and increase their revenue per yield. It will also help the final consumers including homes, restaurants and retail chains enjoy farm fresh foods delivered to their destination in record time.

We need human capital to develop the App with peculiar features including payment security. We need finance for marketing and purchase of the motobikes.

Solve members and MIT faculty who can help with App design.

We think coding classes should be made student friendly and accessible to all. 

The App producealert.ng can serve refugees involved with agriculture as they do not need a physical market to sell again. This App will serve them as part of economic empowerment of refugees and internally displaced persons.

This App enables the rural women to be part of digital technology since they will be trained on its use for marketing their farm produce.

This App will empower rural women and girls in the following ways

1. It will make them women and girls SHFs to generate more revenue that is now lost to middlemen and post-harvest damages

2. It will empower the women and girls in delivery section as riders

3. It will improve life quality of the rural women since they will no longer trek 2k carry heavy load to local markets

4. As they sell from the comfort of their homes, it frees up time for other relaxation activities or home chores.

With funding from Innovation for women Prize the above benefits of the App will be realized.

This App will generate huge data on in the farming community. The data will include 

1. Individual annual average sales volume

2. Type of crop variety and its market value

3. Looses to weather events 

4. Feeding habit of the consuming community so as to advice the women on prime crops for better returns on investments

These data will be analyzed and used to package finance, credit and insurance products for these rural women and girls. The AI for Humanity Prize will help the build up of this database which is central to designing sustainable packages for scaling their farming businesses from subsistence to commercial farms or part of a viable value addition chain. This Prize will be very transformational for these women.