11/11/2014
The most powerful person is the one who has the capacity to feed themselves. Reliable access to adequate food is a fundamental requirement for human well-being, especially in the SADC region where there is present focus on improving agriculture efficiencies.
Agriculture development is a priority as the sector is the source of food, income and employment for more than 62% of the 277 million strong SADC region, a figure upwards of 170 million! In addition, 27% of regional GNP and 13% of export earnings are attributable to the sector. Several declarations and protocols have emphasized food security, against a backdrop of changing rainfall patterns, dated agricultural methods, increasing populations, the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Key amongst these is Dar-es-Salaam Declaration on Agriculture and Food Security in the region. Declining agricultural output is a part of a wider pattern whereby governments fail to recognize the contribution of small farmers in increasing production.
Our team seeks to address the food security issue with a cocktail of technology solutions compacted on one platform, aptly named Mlimi. The platform brings life to the need to improve access to information, resources, markets and funding – with several interfaces including all the key stakeholders in the agriculture ecosystem. On Mlimi, farmers meet input and machinery suppliers, technical services providers, financiers, researcher, produce offtakers, local government institutions, non-government organizations and a community of like-minded people. We are after one key thing – partnering to provide access to farmers.
We selected Zimbabwe as a pilot, a former breadbasket of Africa and a probable great choice for a base case. It is a market we understand and can easily get information and strategic partnerships in before scaling to other SADC countries and beyond. Indications are a total number of 2 million general farmers in this nation. The channels we will use are leveraging on mobile pe*******on of 106 % and internet pe*******on of 50% (99% of which is mobile). We imagine committing the greater chunk of investment to creating and maintain a robust and interactive platform, online and offline activity to reach out to the key players and content sourcing; over and above general operational costs.
The data we will generate is our greatest asset and probably will give us the greatest revenue over time as initial conversations with important stakeholders reveal commitment to pay for accurate aggregated statistics (by crop, by geographical location, by season, by demography, by output etc.), productivity reports that inform credit reports; and other requirements that can be customized. As traction builds, we anticipate some revenue from advertising and subscriptions for specialized content. We are clear that sustainability will come, but; over time. The future possibilities in our suit of expert systems include disease identification using images and description, labour linkages, land leases and new farming land interactions, financial management and moving into other sectors to fight poverty.
Meanwhile, keep calm, follow on Twitter and like us on www.facebook.com/mlimipartners
