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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.
nouhaila_zaki

The future of Africa's Agriculture rests with the youth | E-Agriculture - 2 views

www.fao.org/...80%99s-agriculture-rests-youth

Demographic Technological African Youth Digital Literacy Agriculture Unemployment

shared by nouhaila_zaki on 16 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • The youth in the study said that their biggest obstacle to a career in farming was learning the digital and technical skills needed in todays’ market. Technologies such as cloud computing, soil sensors, drones have changed food production and processing – digital literacy is now a must!
    • nouhaila_zaki
      nouhaila_zaki on 16 Feb 21
       
      This excerpt is important because it emphasizes on how digital literacy could contribute to the creation of jobs in Africa, which are most needed.
  • he second important reasons they raised was land ownership, most youths who receive farming land get smaller pieces of land parceled out. The challenge is that young farmers must produce more yields from smaller spaces, without innovative technologies In some countries for example in Kenya, some youth are innovatively establishing youth-driven innovations which sadly do not receive political or financial support that allows for viability and scalability.
  • Africa is in the height of a crisis and an opportunity. Africa’s population stands at 1,2 billion people and over 60% are below the age of 25. Yet most African youths are not employed, and according to the World Bank by 2035, 350 million new jobs will be needed. Africa’s population is growing faster than jobs are created. There is a potential for agriculture to create employment, however, African youths in Sub-Saharan Africa do not realize agriculture as a profitable opportunity for livelihood. There is a growing notion that the best way to entice young people back to the farms is through making youths access information and communication technologies tailored for agriculture.
mohammed_ab

Kenyan insurtech startup Pula raises $6M Series A to derisk smallholder farmers across ... - 1 views

techcrunch.com/...-series-a-led-by-tlcom-capital

Pula Insurtech Micro Insurance Africa

shared by mohammed_ab on 10 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • Another startup is Apollo Agriculture which raised $6 million Series A, akin to Pula. Not only did the pair raise the same round, Apollo Agriculture and Pula both deal with providing financial resources to smallholder farmers.
    • nourserghini
      nourserghini on 10 Feb 21
       
      Apollo Agriculture is another rival in the industry that is also considered as a partner and complement in the industry.
  • Pula is solving this problem by using technology and data. Through its Area Yield Index Insurance product, the insurtech startup leverages machine learning, crop-cut experiments and data points relating to weather patterns and farmer losses, to build products that cater to various risks.But getting farmers on board has never been easy, Goslinga told TechCrunch. According to her, Pula has understood not to sell insurance directly to small-scale farmers, because they can suffer from optimism bias. “Some think a climate disaster wouldn’t hit their farms for a particular season; hence, they don’t ask for insurance initially. But if they witness any of these climate risks during the season, they would want to get insurance, which is counterproductive to Pula,” said the founder in a phone call.
  • Pula, a Kenyan insurtech startup that specialises in digital and agricultural insurance to derisk millions of smallholder farmers across Africa, has closed a Series A investment of $6 million.The round was led by Pan-African early-stage venture capital firm, TLcom Capital, with participation from nonprofit Women’s World Banking. The raise comes after Pula closed $1 million in seed investment from Rocher Participations with support from Accion Venture Lab, Omidyar Network and several angel investors in 2018.
    • aminej
      aminej on 12 Feb 21
       
      Pula has managed to raise over 6 million $ which is good for them since they will be able to help more farmers get insurance on their products. Keeping in mind that Agricultural insurance costs 4$ in Africa compared to other places where it costs at least 1000$
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • Agriculture insurance has traditionally relied on farm business. In the U.S. or Europe with typically large farms, an average insurance premium is $1,000. But in Africa, where smallholding or small-scale farms are the norm, the number stands at an average of $4.It is particularly telling that the value of agricultural insurance premiums in Africa represents less than 1% of the world’s total when the continent has 17% of the world’s arable land. 
  • hichamachir on 12 Feb 21
     
    Pula studies the risks that they might find with small scale farmers. I like this kind of behavior because you need to study every possible problem so you can outcome it the best way possible.
  • mohammed_ab on 13 Feb 21
     
    What got my attention in this article is the disparity in insurance prices (premiums) between European and African countries. We see that the premiums for insurance for African farmers are only 1% the price of insurance for European farmers. This shows the big difference in purchasing power between African and European countries.
mehdibella

FarmDrive - 0 views

farmdrive.co.ke

Fintech Farmdrive kenya

shared by mehdibella on 08 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • FarmDrive’s alternative credit risk assessment model is providing financial institutions with an agriculturally relevant and data-driven model to assess risk and develop loans that fit the needs of smallholder farmers. Not only will this solution unlock millions of dollars of previously risk-averse capital for smallholder farmers, it will improve the livelihoods of entire communities, thereby alleviating poverty, hunger, and inequalities.
    • sawsanenn
      sawsanenn on 08 Feb 21
       
      FarmDrive overlaps our focus areas of agriculture and financial inclusion, empowering the world's most vulnerable farmers with the digital financial services they need to strengthen and improve their livelihoods. FarmDrive connected to various partners and expertise to help them scale, as its usage increases in other developing markets in sub-Saharan Africa.
  • Nearly 50 million smallholder farmers in Africa are struggling to support their families and communities through agri-business because less than 10% have their economic needs met by the financial sector. Without access to credit, they remain unable to purchase quality inputs, make productive investments, and improve their production and harvests.
    • sawsanenn
      sawsanenn on 08 Feb 21
       
      While financial inclusion in the country has increased, many farmers remain excluded. Limited financing for farmers is due, in part, to a lack of available credible risk-assessment information for financial institutions.
  • FarmDrive’s alternative credit risk assessment model is providing financial institutions with an agriculturally relevant and data-driven model to assess risk and develop loans that fit the needs of smallholder farmers. Not only will this solution unlock millions of dollars of previously risk-averse capital for smallholder farmers, it will improve the livelihoods of entire communities, thereby alleviating poverty, hunger, and inequalities.
    • aminej
      aminej on 11 Feb 21
       
      FarmDrive helps small holder farmers get access to credit and funding in order to develop more and improve their capabilities and ressources. They also offer another service that consist of giving a score to each farmer according to his credits which is a good way to evaluate each one and to include more people that are unbanked.
  • ...2 more annotations...
  • FarmDrive uses mobile phones, alternative data, and machine learning to close the critical data gap that prevents financial institutions from lending to creditworthy smallholder farmers.
  • $450 Billion Financing Gap Agriculture employs 65% of Africa’s population and makes up 32% of its GDP. However, less than 1% of bank lending in Africa goes to agriculture. In absence of accurate and cost-effective methods for assessing small-scale agricultural lending risk, financial institutions choose not to lend to smallholder farmers, thereby contributing to the $450 billion global agriculture financing gap.
    • mehdibella
      mehdibella on 13 Feb 21
       
      Not only will this solution unlock millions of dollars of previously risk-averse capital for smallholder farmers, it will improve the livelihoods of entire communities as the GDPR is maiinly based on agriculture these similar technologies help push it over the limit.
  • hibaerrai on 08 Feb 21
     
    This excerpt is important because FarmDrive tries to gather all data needed to create loans that suit farmers situations.
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.
aminej

FarmDrive Raises Funding to Help Africa's Smallholder Farmers Get Finance with Credit S... - 0 views

agfundernews.com/-credit-scoring-algorithm.html

Kenya Online Fintech Mobile Agriculture Farmers Funds

shared by aminej on 13 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • So far, 3,000 farmers have registered with FarmDrive, borrowing over $130k in loans. That’s a tiny portion of what’s needed across Africa where 65% of the workforce is involved in agriculture, but less than 1% of bank loans go to the industry. And globally there’s a $450 billion funding gap in agriculture, according to FarmDrive.
    • kenza_abdelhaq
      kenza_abdelhaq on 13 Feb 21
       
      FarmDrive is fulfilling a market gap by providing loans and access to financing to farmers who represent 65% of the workforce in Africa.
  • FarmDrive, a Kenyan data analytics startup helping smallholder farmers in Africa access credit from local banks, has raised funding from the venture arm of Safaricom, the biggest communication company in East and Central Africa, Safaricom Spark Venture Fund.
    • aminej
      aminej on 13 Feb 21
       
      More and more companies are raising funds for agricultural fintechs since they are realizing that agriculture is very important mostly during crisis period. Also, small holder farmers need protection and investments in order to maximize their profit
  • kenza_abdelhaq on 13 Feb 21
     
    "So far, 3,000 farmers have registered with FarmDrive, borrowing over $130k in loans. That's a tiny portion of what's needed across Africa where 65% of the workforce is involved in agriculture, but less than 1% of bank loans go to the industry. And globally there's a $450 billion funding gap in agriculture, according to FarmDrive."
mehdibella

FarmDrive Helps Unbanked Farmers in Kenya | The Borgen Project - 0 views

borgenproject.org/farmers-in-kenya

Fintech Farmdrive kenya

shared by mehdibella on 12 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • FarmDrive combats this lack of financial visibility by calculating alternative credit scores for Kenyan smallholder farmers. The startup requires users to input their expenses, revenue and yield via SMS and creates a platform for farmers to record business activity. FarmDrive then uses a complex algorithm to combine individual financial information with additional factors like the climate in the farmer’s region.
    • tahaemsd
      tahaemsd on 12 Feb 21
       
      farmdrive eliminates some of the risk for banks by considering both the self reported financial history of farmers as well as exogenous variables that will affect their crop yields
  • By accruing farmer data, FarmDrive eliminates some of the risk for banks. FarmDrive has partnered with African financial firms who accept their alternative credit scores and determine appropriate loans for smallholder farmers. Lending institutions thus consider both the self-reported financial history of farmers as well as exogenous variables that will affect their crop yields.
    • mehdibella
      mehdibella on 13 Feb 21
       
      FarmDrive collects data from farmers via and combines it with satellite imaging, alternative data points to create detailed yield estimates and assess credit risk.
  • FarmDrive depends on aid organizations, like USAID, and private firms that operate in the agricultural industry. FarmDrive is expanding its data collection through new partnerships with Planet, a satellite company, and The Impact Lab, a data analytics group, to potentially incorporate climate information gathered via satellite imagery into its algorithm.
    • kenza_abdelhaq
      kenza_abdelhaq on 13 Feb 21
       
      In addition to financial firms, FramDrive partners up with aid organizations, private firms operating in the agricultural industry, satellite company, and a data analytics group.
  • ...1 more annotation...
  • There are 50 million smallholder farmers in Kenya, but less than 10 percent of this population has their economic needs fulfilled by traditional lenders. The agricultural sector makes up 32 percent of Africa’s GDP and employs 65 percent of its population, but less than 1 percent of bank lending goes to agriculture. Worldwide, there is an estimated $450 billion agricultural lending gap. African smallholder farmers face barriers to traditional lending because they are labeled high-risk borrowers by financial institutions. Traditional banks use credit scores and bank statements to determine a loan applicant’s riskiness. However, the average farmer in Africa cultivates fewer than five acres of land and owns no collateral or financial records.
    • aminej
      aminej on 13 Feb 21
       
      Unfortunaely for most farmers, they can't access credit from traditional banks because they are considered as high risk borrowers since they face many risks such as climate change, theft, lack of fertilizers. Now, through farmdrive everything changed with these new Fintechs who started giving more importance to farmers
nouhaila_zaki

Agricultural growth is key to spur Ghana's economic growth | IFPRI : International Food... - 0 views

www.ifpri.org/...ey-spur-ghanas-economic-growth

AgroCenta Ghana Economic Growth

shared by nouhaila_zaki on 27 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • In our new book, Ghana's Economic and Agricultural Transformation: Past Performance and Future Prospects, we integrate economic and political analysis to explore the challenges to and opportunities for Ghana's economic transformation. Using a wide range of primary and secondary data at multiple scales, we examine Ghana's overall economic performance since the major Structural Adjustment Program in the mid-1980s and provide an analysis of the performance of the agricultural sector and broader economy over the past four decades.
    • nouhaila_zaki
      nouhaila_zaki on 27 Feb 21
       
      This article is important because it gives us other potential sources for scanning.
hichamachir

Pula Partners CGAP to Bring Satellite-Based Agricultural Insurance to 18 Million Nigeri... - 1 views

techmoran.com/...-million-nigerian-smallholders

Pula Partners Fintech Insurance

shared by hichamachir on 13 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • Over 2.5 billion of the world’s adults remain unbanked and have no access to formal banking or semiformal microfinance institutions according to a report by McKinsey.
  • Pula Advisors, a fintech firm reimagining agricultural insurance to protect smallholders worldwide, with operations in Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Nigeria, Ethiopia and Malawi has partnered with the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) to deploy satellite-based agricultural insurance to smallholder farmers in Nigeria who are estimated to be around 18 million. With the partnership, Pula will install satellite technology to track a wide range of catastrophes cost effectively, at speed and without missing out on any areas.
  • “We hope that the high-quality yield and satellite data available today will enable local insurers and Pula Advisors to create an innovative yield predictive model that decreases the cost of area yield index insurance. At the end of the day, we want to make this product more accessible to smallholder families, allowing them to invest with more confidence and increase their yields,” said Emilio Hernandez, who leads CGAP’s work with smallholders.
  • mohammed_ab on 13 Feb 21
     
    This article highlights the partnership between Pula and CGAP, which enabled Pula to use satellites to better study & analyze the lands of farmers. The use of satellites will allow Pula to be very cost-effective and quick in analyzing weather uncertainty.
  • hichamachir on 13 Feb 21
     
    I like how Pula always thinks about improving its technology. Using partnerships in order to improve the business you is always a great idea. I highly support that.
aminej

Apollo Agriculture - 0 views

www.apolloagriculture.com

Kenya Agriculture Farmers Online Service Insurance Competitor

shared by aminej on 11 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • Apollo Agriculture is a technology company based in Nairobi, Kenya that helps small-scale farmers maximize their profits.
    • aminej
      aminej on 11 Feb 21
       
      Apollo Agriculture is a competitor of FarmDrive they both help farmers in difficulty to increase their profits and be protected against losses. The Kenyans also are focusing more and more on agricutlture which is good for their economy
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.
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
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.
hichamachir

He Grew Up on a Farm. Now, He Helps Protect Them. - The New York Times - 0 views

www.nytimes.com/...rance-africa-thomas-njeru.html

Pula Mission Insurance Agriculture

shared by hichamachir on 10 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • If you would have told me 10 years ago that I would be running a company that does agriculture insurance, I would not have believed you. Agriculture has not been an area that people have invested in across Africa. Many of my cousins and childhood friends still work on their farms, but they are reluctant to invest, putting in only what they can afford to lose.The reason they don’t invest is simple. The chance of them losing their money due to the vagaries of the weather is huge. Working in insurance got me to understand about probabilities of loss early on — probabilities that cause our continent to be food insecure.
  • Pula’s mission is to give farmers confidence by providing risk mitigation. Our solutions protect a farmer’s investment by pairing it with insurance. We build business cases to persuade Fortune 500 companies, seed and fertilizer suppliers, lending institutions, and governments in Africa, that embedded insurance will help deliver better results for both businesses and food security.
  • mohammed_ab on 10 Feb 21
     
    This article shows how investments in the insurtech industry have grown in Africa over thas past years. It explains the different reasons why people were reluctant to invest in this industry, especially in Africa. The article also explains how the founder of Pula, who was originally a farmer himself, came up with an innovative idea to protect farmers from weather uncertainty.
  • hichamachir on 13 Feb 21
     
    I like they way Pula stated that its mission is to protect farmers. Pula is playing it smart by talking about customer protection because it makes the customers feel safe.
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."
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.
ayoubb

'Cassava Smartech initiative way to go' | The Herald - 0 views

www.herald.co.zw/-smartech-initiative-way-to-go

shared by ayoubb on 13 Feb 21 - No Cached
  • Michael Tome Business Reporter Lands, Agriculture, Water, Climate and Rural Resettlement Ministry says it highly upholds technological innovations that seek to develop agriculture productivity.This follows advances made by Cassava Smartech’s EcoFarmer to digitally enhance farming tips through mobile platform, which is a one-stop solution platform that gives farming tips, location-specific weather updates, weekly agriculture commodity market prices and financial services.
    • ayoubb
      ayoubb on 13 Feb 21
       
      CASSAVA
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.
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