Skip to main content

Home/ Spring 21 Capstone 640pm/ Group items tagged Agricultural Value Chain

Rss Feed Group items tagged

Filter: All | Bookmarks | Topics Simple Middle
mehdibella

AgroCenta: Digital food distribution platform creating shared value for businesses and ... - 2 views

agrocenta.com/about

Fintech Agrocenta ghana

shared by mehdibella on 07 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • Our Cropchain and LendIt platforms solve these two problems. Cropchain is our user-friendly integrated agricultural supply chain management platform that allows organizations to manage everything in the agricultural supply chain from outgrower schemes, logistics, traceability to digital trading, quality assurance and data analytics. LendIt, our financial inclusion platform enables farmers access digital services such mobile money payments for commodities sold, micro-lending/input financing, crop insurance and pension scheme for the informal sector.
    • nouhaila_zaki
      nouhaila_zaki on 07 Feb 21
       
      This excerpt is important because it highlights how AgroCenta solves two persistent problems in the Ghanian agricultural value chain. First, agricultural supply chain management is ensured through the Cropchain platform. Second, the financial inclusion mission of the company is ensured by the LendIt platform.
  • Our Cropchain and LendIt platforms solve these two problems. Cropchain is our user-friendly integrated agricultural supply chain management platform that allows organizations to manage everything in the agricultural supply chain from outgrower schemes, logistics, traceability to digital trading, quality assurance and data analytics. LendIt, our financial inclusion platform enables farmers access digital services such mobile money payments for commodities sold, micro-lending/input financing, crop insurance and pension scheme for the informal sector.
    • aminej
      aminej on 08 Feb 21
       
      This article shows that AgroCenta is built around an online trading platform which connects smallholder farmers to a larger structured market. It was founded by two ex-esoko employees Francis Obirikorang and Michael K. Ocansey in 2015. It is located in Ghana and more precisely in the capital which is Accra. The service is used through a smartphone so the main target customer here will be small holder farmers who have a phone.
  • Onboarding smallholder farmers onto the AgroCenta platform. Agents visit communities where smallholder farmers who deal in sorghum, rice, maize, millet and soybean are registered onto the AgroCenta platform to trade. Agents also work with farmer based organizations (FBOs) to carry out trading activities. 2 Facilitating trade deals on behalf of Smallholder farmers. Agents deal with buyers who wish to purchase directly from smallholder farmers. AgroCenta agents are trained in the field of technology, sales and marketing to effectively help smallholder farmers who have little or no knowledge of technology trade easily. 3 Gathering market information and statistical data. Agents are assigned to major trading markets across the country to collate data on market pricing for various commodities. This information is relayed to smallholder farmers via Voice technologies in languages they read and understand.
    • sawsanenn
      sawsanenn on 08 Feb 21
       
      This excerpt is important because it shows how Agrocenta's agents help smallholder farmers, what are the responsibilities they have towards their customers. Plus, it encourage other farmers to join the digitalization world to improve their businesses.
  • ...6 more annotations...
  • Onboarding smallholder farmers onto the AgroCenta platform. Agents visit communities where smallholder farmers who deal in sorghum, rice, maize, millet and soybean are registered onto the AgroCenta platform to trade. Agents also work with farmer based organizations (FBOs) to carry out trading activities. 2 Facilitating trade deals on behalf of Smallholder farmers. Agents deal with buyers who wish to purchase directly from smallholder farmers. AgroCenta agents are trained in the field of technology, sales and marketing to effectively help smallholder farmers who have little or no knowledge of technology trade easily. 3 Gathering market information and statistical data. Agents are assigned to major trading markets across the country to collate data on market pricing for various commodities. This information is relayed to smallholder farmers via Voice technologies in languages they read and understand.
    • sawsanenn
      sawsanenn on 08 Feb 21
       
      This excerpt is important because it shows how the Agrocent'as agents help the smallholders' farmers access different financial services, plus it encourages the other farmers to join the digitalization world and develop their businesses
  • Our Cropchain and LendIt platforms solve these two problems. Cropchain is our user-friendly integrated agricultural supply chain management platform that allows organizations to manage everything in the agricultural supply chain from outgrower schemes, logistics, traceability to digital trading, quality assurance and data analytics.
    • mehdibella
      mehdibella on 13 Feb 21
       
      this section shows how much Agrocenta is dealing with its supply chain management to allow farmers benefit from different schemes
  • AgroCenta is made up of dedicated and talented people. Our core team is made up of project managers, agricultural experts and consultants, software developers, regional and district managers and field agents.
  • Onboarding smallholder farmers onto the AgroCenta platform. Agents visit communities where smallholder farmers who deal in sorghum, rice, maize, millet and soybean are registered onto the AgroCenta platform to trade. Agents also work with farmer based organizations (FBOs) to carry out trading activities.
    • mehdibella
      mehdibella on 13 Feb 21
       
      AgroCenta is made up of dedicated and talented people. Our core team is made up of project managers, agricultural experts and consultants, software developers, regional and district managers and field agents.
  • ase directly from smallholder farmers. AgroCenta agents are trained in the field of technology, sales and marketing to effectively help smallholder farmers who have little or no knowledge of technology trade easily.
  • AgroCenta is made up of dedicated and talented people. Our core team is made up of project managers, agricultural experts and consultants, software developers, regional and district managers and field agents.
    • ghtazi
      ghtazi on 13 Feb 21
       
      this part is important because we can see how devoted and dedicated is agrocenta when it comes to choosing their team
  • aminej on 08 Feb 21
     
    Some of the advantages that will come with this platform are reducing unemployment and connecting between the lower social class and the high social class in order to develop relations and improve their services. Farmers will gain more profit since it will become more regulated and distribution facilities will be smoother between the two
kenza_abdelhaq

AgroCenta CEO on the Challenges of Entrepreneurship in Ghana - 0 views

www.seedstars.com/...llenges-entrepreneurship-ghana

AgroCenta Ghana Specialized market

shared by kenza_abdelhaq on 12 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • Does being an entrepreneur in Ghana – and in a developing economy in Africa – presents any ulterior challenges you had overcome?Being an entrepreneur in Africa and in emerging markets, in general, is quite difficult because of the lack of structure and supports put in place by the government. It requires a lot of courage and persistence to get the simplest things done. Any simple tech solution that you might want to build can end up being a very complex challenge because it relies on services that do not exist or don’t work properly. Access to funding also remains a big problem for many entrepreneurs who will need money to test, pilot and scale a platform or a solution. Many investors are quite held back when it comes to making investments in Africa for an obvious reason: corruption.
    • nouhaila_zaki
      nouhaila_zaki on 12 Feb 21
       
      This excerpt is important because it reflects the challenges faced by AgroCenta in Ghana, i.e. corruption, lack of financing, lack of proper infrastructure, lack of government help, among other things.
  • Our business model is simple, we are a B2B business that generates commission fees on trade volumes from the businesses we work with.
    • nouhaila_zaki
      nouhaila_zaki on 12 Feb 21
       
      This excerpt is extremely important because it clearly states the business model of the company.
  • we are definitely improving the financial livelihood of smallholder farmers through fair trade. Many smallholder farmers are paid less than $1 a day and our objective is to increase it to $4 a day by 2020.
    • kenzabenessalah
      kenzabenessalah on 12 Feb 21
       
      AgroCenta is an extremely important concept because it is helping to increase farmers' salaries. Going from $1 a day to $4 a day is already an improvement.
  • ...8 more annotations...
  • AgroCenta focuses on 3 key impact goals for Ghana:No Poverty: Gender Equality: in Sub-Saharan Africa, traditions and land ownerships do not favor women, which ends up in many women being excluded from the agriculture value chain. By engaging the relevant stakeholders, AgroCenta rents arable agricultural lands to female smallholder farmers for free. Women are also given seeds, fertilizers, mechanized tractor services and extensive advisory information on farming best practices such as what type of seed to plant, when to plant, how to plant, etc.Decent Work & Economic Growth: we empower smallholder farmers to see agriculture as more than just a way to survive and position it as a viable industry that can be sustainable for their family.
    • mehdibella
      mehdibella on 13 Feb 21
       
      as you can see this company cares a lot about the livelyhood of their farmers and is trying to provide them only with the best features that would make life easier which in fact the main things that they tackle in the SDGs.
  • Seedstars Summit has been phenomenal. It has put AgroCenta on a pedestal and in the spotlight of a huge community in Africa. The experience after the Summit has been amazing: we received a lot of proposals from potential investors, partners and other service providers keen on working with us for growth and expansion.
  • Winning the vote of the entire jury, AgroCenta from Ghana was crowned the Seedstars Global Winner of the 5th edition of Seedstars Summit. At Seedstars, we are convinced that AgroCenta will shape the future of AgriTech in Africa. Indeed, the start-up’s mission is to improve the financial livelihood of smallholder farmers through fair trade.
    • aminej
      aminej on 12 Feb 21
       
      Agrocenta will have a great impact on farmers in Africa since it will enable them to protect their production and have an insurace in case of any risks. It will also help them regulate the market of agricultural products in order to set a price for each one
  • We identified a missing gap in the value chain that was the capacity to access the market for smallholder farmers after they have successfully cultivated their commodities. Access to the market was a huge problem for millions of smallholder farmers.
    • kenza_abdelhaq
      kenza_abdelhaq on 13 Feb 21
       
      AgroCenta is fulfilling a market gap that is the need for smallholder farmers to access the market.
  • AgroCenta focuses as well as Seedstars on achieving the Sustainable Goals set up by the UN
    • sawsanenn
      sawsanenn on 13 Feb 21
       
      one of the main goals is to reach economic growth by empowering smallholders farmers to see agriculture not only as a survival solution but as an investment
  • Gender Equality: in Sub-Saharan Africa, traditions and land ownerships do not favor women, which ends up in many women being excluded from the agriculture value chain. By engaging the relevant stakeholders, AgroCenta rents arable agricultural lands to female smallholder farmers for free. Women are also given seeds, fertilizers, mechanized tractor services and extensive advisory information on farming best practices such as what type of seed to plant, when to plant, how to plant, etc.Decent Work & Economic Growth: we empower smallholder farmers to see agriculture as more than just a way to survive and position it as a viable industry that can be sustainable for their family.
    • hibaerrai
      hibaerrai on 13 Feb 21
       
      Agrocenta main goals are the following: first and the most evident one no poverty especially for farmers who are not paid enough. second, gender equality and finally economic agricultural development within the country.
  • A great team for sure! Our major strength has been a team made of people with diverse backgrounds and experiences and a deep understanding of the agricultural value chain. This asset allowed us to save a lot of time we would have naturally spent on trying to fine tune and launch the AgroCenta platform. Thanks to that we avoided making the common mistakes many new and unexperienced founders make.
    • ghtazi
      ghtazi on 13 Feb 21
       
      what we can understand is that having a great team is the key asset that led to the rapid growth of Agrocenta. cross-cultural team has been a plus for the development of agrocenta. it helped the company to save time and avoid making common mistakes that many new and inexperienced founders make.
  • Many investors are quite held back when it comes to making investments in Africa for an obvious reason: corruption.
mehdibella

AgroCenta - Greentec - 0 views

greentec-capital.com/...agrocenta

ghana Fintech Agrocenta

shared by mehdibella on 12 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • AgroCenta brings all the stakeholders in Ghana’s agricultural value chain together to facilitate effective trading within its web and mobile platform. They target rural smallholder farmers and farmer-based organizations that have limited access to markets, logistics, or technology. AgroCenta works to improve the livelihoods of farmers by providing an all-in-one SMS based solution to access commodity pricing, offer goods for sale across Ghana, and an on-demand logistics service to ensure timely deliveries.
    • kenzabenessalah
      kenzabenessalah on 12 Feb 21
       
      I really admire the concept of AgroCenta because it is able to give smallholder farmers an opportunity to expand their business, which would then aid in providing for their families.
  • Agrocenta tackles some of the main market inefficiencies and challenges to growth for smallholder farmers within the agriculture value chain in Ghana and West Africa. Agrocenta works to improve the limited access to market information, to reduce the exploitative behaviour of local buyers and middlemen and to improve the transportation and logistics linkages between small rural sellers of agri production and the larger urban markets.
  • Business Model
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • Agrocenta draws its revenue streams from the price difference between purchase prices (from smallholders) and prices sold to large off-takers. Agrocenta mobilizes a local network of agents and scouts, who work directly with the local farmer communities and engage in the pre/post-harvest process.
    • mehdibella
      mehdibella on 13 Feb 21
       
      Agrocenta's passion to change the face of agriculture in Africa is built on 3 core values, closely aligned with 3 SDGs. Agrocenta aims to create livelihood empowerement for smallholder farmers, help increase farmers' incomes and thus help reducing poverty.
  • Agrocenta’s passion to change the face of agriculture in Africa is built on 3 core values, closely aligned with 3 SDGs.
  • Agrocenta aims to create livelihood empowerement for smallholder farmers, help increase farmers’ incomes and thus help reducing poverty. Agrocenta aims to help ensure sustainable food security by working to reduce inefficiencies in the agricultural value chain. Agrocenta also aims to contribute towards gender equality by working with many female farmers.
    • kenza_abdelhaq
      kenza_abdelhaq on 13 Feb 21
       
      AgroCenta is actively working on empowering small farmers, reducing poverty, ensuring sustainable food security, and contributing to gender equality.
  • Agrocenta draws its revenue streams from the price difference between purchase prices (from smallholders) and prices sold to large off-takers. Agrocenta mobilizes a local network of agents and scouts, who work directly with the local farmer communities and engage in the pre/post-harvest process.
    • sawsanenn
      sawsanenn on 13 Feb 21
       
      this excerpt is important because it shows how agrocenta encourages smallholders farmers to develop their businesses and face challenges by offering them many financial solutions.
  • Products and Services A comprehensive agricultural services platform including: AgroInfo: provides realtime agricultural information and market prices to smallholder farmers AgroTrade: online trading platform offering ability to buy and sell agricultural commodities TruckR: on demand logistics solutions to deliver agriculture goods from rural aggregation points to urban markets and buyers AgroPay: financial platform allowing farmers to transact digitally
    • ghtazi
      ghtazi on 13 Feb 21
       
      these are the Products and services of agrocenta: agroinfo, agrotrade, truckr, and agropay.
ghtazi

AV Ventures Invests in AgroCenta, Supporting Digital and Financial Inclusion of Ghanaia... - 0 views

www.acdivoca.org/...f-ghanaian-smallholder-farmers

Agrocenta COVID19 Security

shared by ghtazi on 12 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • AV Ventures, ACDI/VOCA’s impact investing subsidiary, recently completed its investment in AgroCenta, a technology-driven agricultural platform provider in Ghana. The funding made by AV Ventures is part of a US$790,000 pre-Series A investment round with other participating international institutions, including Shell Foundation, the United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and Rabo Foundation, with support from AgroCenta’s strategic advisor, Qbera Capital.
    • tahaemsd
      tahaemsd on 12 Feb 21
       
      With the newly secured funding, agrocenta will widen the reach of its smallholder farmer financial inclusion programs
  • The digital services AgroCenta provides along the selected cereals value chain also improve the repayment of loans by smallholder farmers. The services provide farmers with an end market through the offtaking of produce and through facilitating the provision of high-quality agricultural inputs, which maximize their yields and productivity. To date, the average farmer on CropChain has increased their income by 35 percent and their crop yields by 40 percent, while reducing their food waste by 25 percent. AgroCenta has also made strides to promote gender and social inclusion; nearly half of its CropChain users and more than half of its microloan borrowers on LendIt are female smallholder farmers. 
    • nouhaila_zaki
      nouhaila_zaki on 13 Feb 21
       
      This excerpt is important because it introduces the results of using AgroCenta on smallholder farmers, ranging between the maximization of productivity, of income, reduction of food waste,to gender and social inclusion.
  • Founded in 2016, AgroCenta operates two integrated digital platforms in Ghana, CropChain and LendIt, to help address challenges related to smallholder farmers’ access to markets and financial services.
    • kenza_abdelhaq
      kenza_abdelhaq on 13 Feb 21
       
      Since 2016, AgroCenta operates 2 digital platforms: - CropChain: integrated agricultural supply chain management platform. - LendIt: allowing access to financial services like mobile payments, microloans, crop insurance.
  • ...4 more annotations...
  • Poor infrastructure and logistics prevent many smallholder farmers in Ghana from accessing large, urban markets where they could obtain better prices for their crops. Many of these farmers lack information on fair market prices, which leaves them susceptible to selling at low prices to middlemen. Without a strong credit history, many of them also have limited access to finance for purchasing high-quality agricultural inputs that would enable them to scale beyond subsistent production.  
    • sawsanenn
      sawsanenn on 13 Feb 21
       
      this excerpt shows reasons why smallholder farmers should consider agrocenta to increase their profitability and their revenues
  • For AV Ventures, the investment is part of its long-term strategy of providing innovative and catalytic capital to support growth-oriented small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) like AgroCenta that make up the “missing middle” of investment — too large for microfinance but too small or too early-stage to attract private equity investors. These SMEs are often the backbone of economies and potential drivers of innovation, but too often they miss out on financing that could enable their growth and longevity.  
    • hibaerrai
      hibaerrai on 13 Feb 21
       
      Agrocenta attracts more investors as it is considered among small and medium businesses that promote innovation. In fact, the fintech is specialized in agricultural loans, something not that common in the country.
  • CropChain is an integrated agricultural supply chain management platform that provides smallholder farmers with access to markets. Farmers use the platform to advertise their produce, while large offtakers or buyers of selected cereals use it to make purchases or enter long-term offtaker purchase contracts with AgroCenta. AgroCenta leverages the platform to source cereals directly from smallholder farmers to supply to large offtakers who have contracts with the company. This allows AgroCenta to earn margins between the price it pays farmers and the contractually agreed upon price with offtakers.
    • mbellakbail69
      mbellakbail69 on 13 Feb 21
       
      Agrocenta draws even more investment amongst SMEs that promote innovation. This extract shows some of the reasons why smallholders should consider Agrocentra for increasing the profitability and income .
  • “This is a significant milestone for AgroCenta, having the support of leading institutions, particularly with the COVID-19 backdrop, underlining the strength of AgroCenta and the importance of its mission. The demand for agricultural raw materials from offtakers in the brewery, manufacturing, and consumer sector is increasing exponentially because of the easing of COVID-19 restrictions that were put in place by the government of Ghana. Hence, this capital injection will help to secure purchases at fair and transparent prices from smallholders — a much needed lifeline for many who are at the proverbial bottom of the pyramid.”
    • ghtazi
      ghtazi on 13 Feb 21
       
      in this excerpt, we can see how agrocenta takes the pandemic situation and what are the solutions that the company adopts to face it.
kenzabenessalah

AgroCenta | GODAN - 0 views

www.godan.info/...agrocenta

Technology platform Farm-to-market Solution

shared by kenzabenessalah on 12 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • AgroCenta is an agricultural technology platform that provides an end-to-end solution for smallholder farmers in the post-harvest value chain from farm to market, leveraging on technology to create impact. AgroCenta focuses on 4 key areas in the agricultural value chain namely market linkage, access to real time market information, access to on-demand trucks and logistics services and financial inclusion platform all targeted at the smallholder farmer
    • kenzabenessalah
      kenzabenessalah on 12 Feb 21
       
      AgroCenta doesn't only provide access to smallholder farmers, but there's an entire process behind it. It is in charge of the logistics, the delivery system, the finances, and the real time data.
nouhaila_zaki

AgroCenta: Digital food distribution platform creating shared value for businesses and ... - 0 views

agrocenta.com/partners

AgroCenta Agricultural Value Chain Partners Investors Ghana

shared by nouhaila_zaki on 13 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • The agricultural value chain is huge. We cannot do it all so we have fostered very strategic partnerships with institutions aligned with our values and mission. We are always seeking more of such partnerships and invite you to reach out if interested in working with us.
    • nouhaila_zaki
      nouhaila_zaki on 13 Feb 21
       
      This article is important because it enumerates AgroCenta's different investors and partners. This is important because it allows us to understand the financing scheme that AgroCenta is having. In addition, it enables us to have an idea about the large scope of the agricultural value chain and which institutions contribute to mitigating the risks and challenges AgroCenta might face as a result of this large supply chain.
kenzabenessalah

AgroCenta - Crunchbase Company Profile & Funding - 1 views

www.crunchbase.com/...agrocenta

Value Chain Markets Delivery System

shared by kenzabenessalah on 12 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • AgroCenta was founded by two ex-esoko employees, Francis Obirikorang and Michael K. Ocansey in 2015 to improve the agricultural value chain in Ghana. Two critical problems within the value chain, which are the lack of an access to market for smallholder farmers in the rural areas, which subjected them to activities of exploitative, buying frommiddlemen and the lack of a coordinated truck delivery system to cart their commodities from farms to markets to sell.
    • kenzabenessalah
      kenzabenessalah on 12 Feb 21
       
      Improving the value chain in Ghana is essential to its economy and operations. With AgroCenta, problems with delivery systems and untrustworthy marketers will decrease.
mehdibella

AgroCenta : empowering smallholder farmers in Africa through technology and innovations - 0 views

startup.info/agrocenta

ghana Fintech Agrocenta

shared by mehdibella on 08 Feb 21 - No Cached
  •  AgroCenta’s main competitors are Esoko (www.esoko.com), FarmerLine (www.farmerline.co) and Farm Radio (www.farmradio.org). These 3 competitors are “information-based” only, delivering market prices, weather information and extension advisory services via SMS to farmers.
    • aminej
      aminej on 08 Feb 21
       
      Some of the main competitors of AgroCenta's are Esoko , FarmerLine and Farm Radio. These 3 competitors are not really competitors because they do not provide the same services. These competitors are more "information-based" only, delivering market prices, weather information and extension advisory services via SMS to farmers.
  • AgroCenta came about when both co-founders identified the missing gap in the post harvest value chain, that is access to market for smallholder farmers. This gap gave way to exploitative buying from middlemen at the disadvantage to the smallholder farmer.
    • nouhaila_zaki
      nouhaila_zaki on 12 Feb 21
       
      This excerpt is important because it shows the need that AgroCenta founders identified in Ghana, and thus reflects the company's reason for existing.
  • AgroCenta’s core services are AgroTrade : Which is a sales platform that connects smallholder farmer directly to a larger market to trade fairly. AgroTrade matches smallholder farmers in rural areas to small, medium and large buyers in the urban areas. TrucKR : TruckR is the on-demand trucks & logistics aspect of AgroCenta where farmers can book for truck delivery services to cart their commodities from farms to markets just at a click of a button AgroInfo : Real time weather, market prices and extension advisory services are delivered via SMS and voice solutions to smallholder farmers using mobile technologies AgroPay : AgroPay is the financial inclusion platform for smallholder farmers where farmers in rural areas, without bank accounts, receive payments for goods and services via mobile money technologies.
    • nouhaila_zaki
      nouhaila_zaki on 12 Feb 21
       
      This excerpt is important because one can identify the different products and services proposed by the firm.
  • ...7 more annotations...
  • AgroTrade : Which is a sales platform that connects smallholder farmer directly to a larger market to trade fairly. AgroTrade matches smallholder farmers in rural areas to small, medium and large buyers in the urban areas.
    • kenzabenessalah
      kenzabenessalah on 12 Feb 21
       
      I find this concept beneficial for all farmers because they will be able to have more direct access to larger markets. This way they could earn more and interact more.
  • Francis Obirikorang is the CEO/Co-founder of AgroCenta and Michael Ocansey is the CTO/Co-founder of AgroCenta. Francis and Michael are both ex-employees of Esoko, one of the largest market information platforms in Africa for smallholder farmers.
  • AgroCenta’s success factor is the elimination of the exploitative buying approach from the post harvest value chain, and putting the smallholder farmer at a pivotal position where they are able to sell their commodities to interested buyers fairly, generate enough income and become financially independent
    • mehdibella
      mehdibella on 13 Feb 21
       
      AgroCenta provides the "last mile" approach for the smallholder farmers, going a step further to help farmers sell competitively after the get market information only from existing e-agriculture products on the market.
  • AgroCenta’s core services are
    • kenza_abdelhaq
      kenza_abdelhaq on 13 Feb 21
       
      AgroCenta's services include: -AgroTrade: platform connecting farmers to markets and promoting fair trade. -TrucKR: farmers can have access to transportation through this platform. - AgroInfo: platform that gives useful insights to farmers (weather, market prices) - AgroPay: a platform for financial inclusion, giving small and underbanked farmers the possibility to receive payments via their mobile.
  • AgroPay is the financial inclusion platform for smallholder farmers where farmers in rural areas, without bank accounts, receive payments for goods and services via mobile money technologies.
    • sawsanenn
      sawsanenn on 13 Feb 21
       
      It is a good service because it is a good alternative for smallholders farmers to receive secure payments even without owning a bank account
  • AgroCenta provides the “last mile” approach for the smallholder farmers, going a step further to help farmers sell competitively after the get market information only from existing e-agriculture products on the market.
    • ghtazi
      ghtazi on 13 Feb 21
       
      AgroCenta gives smallholder farmers the "last mile" solution, moving a step further to help farmers sell competitively after only collecting demand knowledge from existing e-agricultural products on the market.
    • mbellakbail69
      mbellakbail69 on 13 Feb 21
       
      It is a good service because it is a good way for farmers, even without getting a bank account, to get safe payments  This idea is great for all producers, so they will have direct access to bigger markets more effectively. They will gain more and engage with more.
mehdi-ezzaoui

The Next Wave: Software is eating agriculture | TechCabal - 1 views

techcabal.com/...ca-software-eating-agriculture

PULA Service software

shared by mehdi-ezzaoui on 13 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • This is not a full list of hot agritech startups in Africa. But when you add Pula – a Kenyan farm insurance startup – to the above, it shows the variety of data-driven innovations aiming to re-organise and fill gaps across the agricultural value chain. From farm to factory to food.
  • mehdi-ezzaoui on 13 Feb 21
     
    software and agriculture is the new trend
mbellakbail69

AgroCenta CEO on the Challenges of Entrepreneurship in Ghana - 0 views

seedstarslife.com/...llenges-entrepreneurship-ghana

shared by mbellakbail69 on 13 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • AgroCenta focuses on 3 key impact goals for Ghana:No Poverty: we are definitely improving the financial livelihood of smallholder farmers through fair trade. Many smallholder farmers are paid less than $1 a day and our objective is to increase it to $4 a day by 2020.Gender Equality: in Sub-Saharan Africa, traditions and land ownerships do not favor women, which ends up in many women being excluded from the agriculture value chain. By engaging the relevant stakeholders, AgroCenta rents arable agricultural lands to female smallholder farmers for free. Women are also given seeds, fertilizers, mechanized tractor services and extensive advisory information on farming best practices such as what type of seed to plant, when to plant, how to plant, etc.Decent Work & Economic Growth: we empower smallholder farmers to see agriculture as more than just a way to survive and position it as a viable industry that can be sustainable for their family.
    • mbellakbail69
      mbellakbail69 on 13 Feb 21
       
      AgroCenta is primarily a digital food and logistics network that generates shared value for local companies and small farmers. Their  business model is simple; it's a B2B company that earns commissions from the companies they deal with for commercial transactions.
mehdibella

AGROCENTA - Make-IT in Africa - 1 views

make-it-initiative.org/...agrocenta-2-2

ghana Fintech Agrocenta

shared by mehdibella on 12 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • AgroCenta is an agricultural technology platform that focuses on using technology to provide market access to smallholder farmers in Ghana. Their primary objective is to promote and facilitate fair trade for smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa by connecting them directly to larger and structured markets. It thus connects them to large, medium and small businesses in order to sell to breweries, food manufacturers and processing industries without intermediaries. The different digital services the company provides in the fields are “Agro-Trade”, “Agro-Pay”, “Agro-Logistics” and “Agro-Information”. By improving the logistical process and removing exploitative buying from the value chain, smallholder farmers can sell at competitive prices and improve their financial livelihood.
    • kenzabenessalah
      kenzabenessalah on 12 Feb 21
       
      AgroCenta allows farmers to sell their crops and tools to other businesses and manufacturers in an efficient and effective process. I find it amazing how such a concept can facilitate multiple services for many players.
  • AgroCenta is an agricultural technology platform that focuses on using technology to provide market access to smallholder farmers in Ghana. Their primary objective is to promote and facilitate fair trade for smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa by connecting them directly to larger and structured markets.
    • mehdibella
      mehdibella on 13 Feb 21
       
      The different digital services the company provides in the fields are "Agro-Trade", "Agro-Pay", "Agro-Logistics" and "Agro-Information" that allows the farmer to make the best out of the crop
  • By improving the logistical process and removing exploitative buying from the value chain, smallholder farmers can sell at competitive prices and improve their financial livelihood.
nouhaila_zaki

AgroCenta: Digital food distribution platform creating shared value for businesses and ... - 0 views

agrocenta.com/apps

AgroCenta Ghana Agricultural Value Chain Products and Services Cropchain LendIt

shared by nouhaila_zaki on 13 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • This is our financial inclusion platform targeted at smallholder farmers. We make it super easy for institutions to on-lend and disburse funds to a large network of smallholder farmers. We don't just give you access to farmers, we give you access to trustworthy low risk farmers.
    • nouhaila_zaki
      nouhaila_zaki on 13 Feb 21
       
      This excerpt reflects the financial inclusion concern of AgroCenta. The LendIt platform allows farmers to access to digital payments, micro-lending and crop insurance more easily thanks to it.
  • Farmer Registrations Know where your farmers reside, how much money they've been making in the past, their family sizes, their literacy levels and more. Inventory Management Easily track how many tons of commodities you have available across multiple locations. Quickly know where to concentrate more effort. Logistics & Tracking Which route is the most efficient to use for commodity pickups? How long will it take for customers to receive commodities they ordered?
    • nouhaila_zaki
      nouhaila_zaki on 13 Feb 21
       
      This excerpt reflects what the Cropchain platform introduced by AgroCenta does for its customers, namely enforcing traceability, transparency and accountability in the agricultural supply chain.
hibaerrai

Ghana's AgroCenta raises US$ 790k to scale its Agri-tech ecosystem - 0 views

africabusinesscommunities.com/...-scale-its-agri-tech-ecosystem

shared by hibaerrai on 12 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • Through AgroCenta’s CropChain platform, smallholder farmers can execute transactions with accurate information. Since the app’s launch, the average CropChain farmer’s income has increased by circa 35%.  AgroCenta says it has managed to reduce food waste by 25%.
    • tahaemsd
      tahaemsd on 12 Feb 21
       
      via an all encompasing ecosystem approach, agrocenta blends cutting edge digital innovation with traditional on the ground operations to transform the lives of smallholder farmes in Ghana
  • Agriculture accounts for circa. 17% of Ghana’s GDP. Through its outreach and services, AgroCenta has increased crop yields of farmers by 40% thereby contributing to Ghana’s economy at large.
    • kenza_abdelhaq
      kenza_abdelhaq on 13 Feb 21
       
      AgroCenta contributes to Ghana's economy by providing support to smallholder farmers along the value chain.
  • This funding was secured from UK charity Shell Foundation, the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), AV Ventures and Rabo Foundation. “This is a significant milestone for AgroCenta, having the support of leading institutions, particularly with the COVID-19 backdrop, underlining the strength of AgroCenta and the importance of its mission. The demand for agricultural raw materials from offtakers in the brewery, manufacturing and consumer sector is increasing exponentially because of the easing of the COVID-19 restrictions that were put in place by the government of Ghana, hence this capital injection will help to secure purchases at fair and transparent prices from smallholders — a much needed lifeline for many who are at the proverbial bottom of the pyramid”. Francis Obirikorang, AgroCenta’s CEO and Co-Founder Michael Ocansey said while highlighting the importance and criticality of this investment.
    • hibaerrai
      hibaerrai on 13 Feb 21
       
      After the Covid-19 Outbreak, the situation in farms was quite challenging as lockdowns were imposed. Now with easier restrictions, AgroCenta raised a huge amount of funds in order to cover for the losses and develop its fintech more and more. This money should be used to develop programs and services that support financial inclusion.
  • kenza_abdelhaq on 13 Feb 21
     
    "Agriculture accounts for circa. 17% of Ghana's GDP. Through its outreach and services, AgroCenta has increased crop yields of farmers by 40% thereby contributing to Ghana's economy at large."
mehdibella

AgroCenta-Empowering-smallholder-farmers-through-finance-information-and-market-access.pdf - 0 views

ghana Fintech Agrocenta

shared by mehdibella on 08 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • In 2016, AgroCenta set out to address these challenges. In a country where agriculture is the primary economic occupation of many — employing 52 per cent of Ghana’s labour force — the AgriT ech start-up launched AgroTrade, an online platform that connects smallholder farmers in the staple food value chain to a wider online market.
    • mehdibella
      mehdibella on 13 Feb 21
       
      agrocenta made it possible for many farmers to get the possibility to engage the community with technology and actually gain more and save to make better products
  • AgroCenta had registered 46,100 smallholder farmers on the AgroTrade platform across four regions and 640 communities. Since launching AgroPay in January 2019, 2,750 smallholder farmers in two regions of Ghana are now active on the platform.
  • AgroCenta has hosted and provided over 500 farmer engagement sessions and trainings since launch. Skilled professionals deliver these sessions in farming communities and methodologies are continuously updated to reflect state-of-theart farming practices.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • AgroCenta received a grant from the GSMA Ecosystem Accelerator Innovation Fund in November 2018 to further develop and scale its financial solution, AgroPay.
  • AgroCenta eliminates inefficiencies in the value chain and ensures farmers are remunerated fairly.
  • mehdibella on 08 Feb 21
     
    AgroCenta has been fighting over two main causes: Lack of access to structured markets, which leaves the poor and illeterate at the mercy of predatory brokers or middlemen who buy at exploitative prices, and lack of access to finance, which means they may never move beyond smallholder farming to middle-level or even commercial farming
mehdibella

GSMA | Meet our portfolio start-ups: AgroCenta, Ghana | Mobile for Development - 0 views

www.gsma.com/...olio-start-ups-agrocenta-ghana

ghana Fintech Agrocenta

shared by mehdibella on 12 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • The start-up provides access to truck delivery services and real-time market information via SMS and IVR. Building on this platform, AgroCenta now enables farmers to receive mobile money, build their credit score and access financial services (like crop insurance) through its latest mobile product, AgroPay.
  • In a country where agriculture is the primary economic occupation of many — employing 52 per cent of Ghana’s labour force — the AgriTech start-up launched AgroTrade, an online platform that connects smallholder farmers in the staple food value chain to a wider online market.
    • nouhaila_zaki
      nouhaila_zaki on 12 Feb 21
       
      This excerpt is important because it reflects the importance of agriculture in Ghana, and which products/services offered by AgroCenta serve to do: AgroTrade connects smallholder farmers to a wider online market & AgroPay allows farmers to receive money, build their credit score and access financial services i.e. crop insurance through their mobile phones.
  • In Ghana, AgroCenta has set up a mobile money API integration partnership with MTN and Vodafone to pay smallholder farmers directly and seamlessly via mobile money through its AgroPay platform.
    • nouhaila_zaki
      nouhaila_zaki on 12 Feb 21
       
      This part reflects the collaborations engaged by AgroCenta with mobile operators MTN and Vodafone to support financial literacy and facilitate the transfer of mobile money.
  • ...5 more annotations...
  • Both mobile operators will also be supporting AgroCenta farmers with financial literacy training on-the-ground. AgroCenta has also strengthened its partnership with Vodafone Ghana to allow smallholder farmers on its platform to access free voice calls between farmers and discounted mobile devices and bundles
  • Both mobile operators will also be supporting AgroCenta farmers with financial literacy training on-the-ground. AgroCenta has also strengthened its partnership with Vodafone Ghana to allow smallholder farmers on its platform to access free voice calls between farmers and discounted mobile devices and bundles
  • Through this partnership, Vodafone Ghana can liaise with the AgroCenta team to onboard AgroCenta farmers on its Small Office/Home Office (SoHo) packages.
    • mehdibella
      mehdibella on 13 Feb 21
       
      As of July 2019, AgroCenta had registered 46,100 smallholder farmers on the AgroTrade platform across four regions and 640 communities.
  • As of July 2019, AgroCenta had registered 46,100 smallholder farmers on the AgroTrade platform across four regions and 640 communities.
  • lack of access to structured markets, which leaves them at the mercy of predatory brokers or middlemen who buy at exploitative prices, and lack of access to finance, which means they may never move beyond smallholder farming to middle-level or even commercial farming.
    • kenza_abdelhaq
      kenza_abdelhaq on 13 Feb 21
       
      The inability of smallholder farmers to access markets pushes them to sell to middlemen with exploitative prices and the incapacity to get loans also prevents these farmers to grow.
  • kenza_abdelhaq on 13 Feb 21
     
    "lack of access to structured markets, which leaves them at the mercy of predatory brokers or middlemen who buy at exploitative prices, and lack of access to finance, which means they may never move beyond smallholder farming to middle-level or even commercial farming."
mehdibella

FarmDrive LTD | F6S - 0 views

www.f6s.com/farmdriveltd

Fintech Farmdrive kenya

shared by mehdibella on 07 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • FarmDrive is a tech-driven social enterprise working at the intersection of technology, agriculture and finance. FarmDrive is improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in Africa by using new technology and alternative data to increase availability of capital; mitigating both financial and operational risks while creating shared value for other players in the value chain.
    • hibaerrai
      hibaerrai on 07 Feb 21
       
      FarmDrive gives the opportunity to smallholder farmers to extract loans and have access to different financial services to manage their small businesses.
  • FarmDrive understands smallholder farmers uniquely through dynamic datasets and translates this to financial institutions. More than 50 million smallholder farmers in Africa are struggling to make a living due to lack of capital to improve their farming activities.
  • FarmDrive has developed a platform that gathers data on smallholder farmers both from the ‘ground’ and ‘data from the sky’. FarmDrive uses sophisticated algorithms to turn that data into comprehensive credit profiles of “unbanked and underbanked” smallholders who have little access to credit.
    • mehdibella
      mehdibella on 13 Feb 21
       
      this solution is a catalyst to reduce the operational costs while increasing operational efficiencies. The platform allows them to do so by using modern technology, and an immense amount of data captured by the solution interfaces.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • The solution is a catalyst to reduce the operational costs while increasing operational efficiencies. Whether credit providers are seeking to better minimize their credit risk exposure, digitize their loan application processes, or streamline their new client outreach, the FarmDrive platform allows them to do so by using world-class algorithms, modern technology, and an immense amount of data captured by the solution interfaces.
    • kenza_abdelhaq
      kenza_abdelhaq on 13 Feb 21
       
      FarmDrive solution presents a win-win situation for both financial and credit institutions and farmers; from mitigating risk to having access to financing and increasing performance and operational efficiency.
  • kenza_abdelhaq on 13 Feb 21
     
    "The solution is a catalyst to reduce the operational costs while increasing operational efficiencies. Whether credit providers are seeking to better minimize their credit risk exposure, digitize their loan application processes, or streamline their new client outreach, the FarmDrive platform allows them to do so by using world-class algorithms, modern technology, and an immense amount of data captured by the solution interfaces."
hibaerrai

AgroCenta | F6S - 0 views

www.f6s.com/agrocenta1

AgroCenta Agritech Fintech Ghana Africa Loans

shared by hibaerrai on 13 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • AgroCenta brings the shareholders in Ghana’s agricultural value chain under one umbrella. Focusing on the producers, rural smallholder farmers, the company has developed a web and mobile platform that provides rural farmers with a suite of services to empower them to sell their crops at fair-market prices. AgroCenta’s platform, which is includes SMS functionality, provides the following services: 1) AgroInfo: real-time commodity pricing information; 2) TruckR: an on-demand logistics solution; 3) AgroTrade: a market platform to offer crops for sale; and 4) AgroPay: a mobile-money based payments service. The company markets its platform leveraging an intimate knowledge of the African cultural context and recruiting and technologically empowering village chiefs to act as advocates or agents for the platform.
    • hibaerrai
      hibaerrai on 13 Feb 21
       
      What I find very thoughtful and interesting is that farmers can apply and ask for loans or different financial services not necessarily through smartphones. They can send an SMS and get the service.
1 - 17 of 17
Showing 20▼ items per page