Kobe & Duma

Farmers harvest with the hope of immediately selling and getting paid straight away. To them, it just never seemed an option to preserve their produce and waste is just a part of agriculture and selling to other markets is not a viable option due to high costs involved.  

Food waste and the ripple effects on the environment, society and economy have become an increasing global concern. With every ounce of food produced and then wasted, there are associated wastage in water, energy, capital, nutrition and other related resources.

We are seeking to provide post-harvest technologies that will open up access to other markets  and cut down food losses and wastage in the region’s food supply chain.The beneficiaries will be stakeholders both upstream and downstream of agricultural value chains

Unlike the developed countries, food wastage in Rwanda comes from post-harvest loss. 50% of the post-harvest waste comprises of fruits and vegetables, 40% of roots and tubers and 20% of cereals and grains (Shukla, 2019). Farmers harvest but fail to store their produce. To them, waste is accepted as just a part of agriculture. Our first-mile post harvest solutions will reduce the food wastage and loss.   

With every ounce of food produced and then wasted, there are associated wastage in water, energy, capital and nutrition. The levels of malnutrition at 38% (in Rwanda) for children less than 5 years old is a dual problem related to food security. 

The certification process is difficult to comply with and this limits many farmers from accessing international markets. Our market linkage services will reduce this gap by extending the farmer's reach and increasing income opportunities.

Currently, there is no elaborate bridge linking farmers to local and regional markets that would provide them with predictable incomes. However, our solution aims to use technology to break this barrier. 

The costs of farming inputs do not justify the revenue and most farmers are at the mercy of unscrupulous middlemen who offer low prices.

Our solution consists of first-mile post-harvest technologies that enable access to markets while cutting down food losses and wastage both upstream and downstream the region’s food supply and value chains. 

We provide locally-built network of technology-linked collection centers within proximity to the farms to improve the handling, storage, packaging and transport options within the fruits, vegetables, tubers, roots, cereals, pulses value chains. 

The locally-built Collection Centers are equipped with a unit that adds value by ensuring that all the collected produce is cleaned and fit for the market in accordance with certification guidelines for both local and international agricultural markets. 

The Packaging Unit ensures that produce is not damaged while in storage and transit and a dedicated refrigerated unit providing cold storage to extends shelf-life and nutritional value of perishable produce. 

In order to increase consumer confidence in the quality of produce, a Traceability software will be deployed to track farm produce from farm to consumer. 

The Marketing unit will be in place to identify and attracts both local and international markets

The solution will have an eCommerce platform where customers can make orders from and make payments while the logistics unit will deliver produce to consumer.

Our solutions target the smallholder Rwandan farmers all over the country. About 70% of the population works in the agricultural sector and the sector accounts for 33% of the national GDP (FAO). Low agricultural productivity and the levels of malnutrition at 38% for children less than 5 years old are dual problems related to food security.

A deeper analysis of the existing supply and value chains reveal that there are many areas where loss and wastage occur. Our solution will place appropriate interventions while transporting produce from farm to market.  

We serve the farmer from loss and wastage by appropriately storing or packaging the produce for transit and/or providing better packaging solutions to minimize any crushing, bruising, or rotting that occurs in transit. 

It is these considerations around the value chain that will enable us conceptualize the dynamics of local and regional inefficiencies. As we connect with the stakeholders in the value chain, the collaboration will begin to connect on a broader scale and best practices will emerge. 

The ultimate impact is to secure an efficient supply and value chain that not only minimizes food loss but also provides the farmers with decent livelihoods. 

Without significant innovations, food waste and loss is set to be become an increasingly pressing societal problem that questions how and where food is produced along with the reasons why waste occurs. 

Our solution explores and contributes to managing food security through waste reduction. Losses and waste in the supply chain are inevitable but can be effectively managed. 

Farmers are not marketers and therefore,and should be left to concentrate on farming.  By providing market linkage services, our efforts will reduce the vulnerability of marginalized communities involved in farming.    

Our solution provides a Logistics Network that delivers produce to consumer and from/to our centers. This is powered by a mobile app called GoDeliv Mobile App.

The solution runs on a back office Omni Channel platform ( Web, Mobile & USSD), that vertically integrates each of our stakeholders’ specific operations and allows them to exchange  information, processes, standards, payments and schedules to successfully conduct a technology-based operation within their defined territory. This provides a single view of the entire supply and value chain and makes it possible to trace farm produce from farm to consumer.

In order to attract both local and international markets, we deploy Market Management Solutions that identify, monitor and distribute information to prospective markets. This creates room for our eCommerce platform where our customers can transact through our mobile application called Goods Mobile Apps.

While the existing solutions rely on on-premise software, our solution will be using the cloud and able to work with and complement on-premise supply chain software and thereby offering a better user experience and greater functionality.

We also create omnichanell buying experience and a paperless system which promotes efficiency in the supply chain networks. 

Our solution consists of three modules.

The front end is a customer module which allows order management, order track and trace, customer service, inventory reports and customers’ management.

The front-end passes the external request for further processing to the middleware application servers. The logic processing is mostly executed at this level. This involves order management, Collaborative Planning, Forecasting, production planning, replenishment management, delivery management, Supply Chain coordination and scheduling, decision support tools that uses analytics and artificial intelligence techniques such as multiagent systems. Agents provide the automation of replenishment, production tracking, orders fulfillment and event management.

The back-end is the company information system or ERP system and executes transactions processing, support all departments within an enterprise and manages internal and external resources including tangible assets, financial resources, materials, and human resources. Both the hardware and software allow support for dynamic applications, scalability and flexibility.

Blockchain will also work well with our solution in the wake of IoT and AI and promises a new model for traceability, supply chain transparency, compliance monitoring and auditability.

Our solution uses widely accepted technology in supply chain as demonstrated by the existing models already in use below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ImFBrRuGG0

http://www.smallholdr.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGOUCNvuu0s

Currently the farmers have limited local markets which provide them with limited income due to the capacities of these markets. Since we shall be linked to upstream value and supply chains, we will be able provide access to market opportunities beyond the local markets. This will create demand which will reduce waste and increase farmers' income.   

By providing storage facilities equipped with cold rooms within proximity of the farms, the shelf life of perishable produce is prolonged. This controls wastes and losses associated with preservation and storage. As a result, we will not only be able to reduce food waste and losses but also control seasonality of the produce and associated price fluctuations.

In times of glut, we shall be able to supply the food processors directly and therefore not suffering serious wastes and loss of income. 

When the farmer is secured from wastes, losses and provided with consistent income, he will be in a position to scale ultimately resulting in food security for all.

We currently have not rolled out the project, but we expect to serve as follows: 

                                                 Year 1      Year 5

Farmers                                      5000       500,000

Retail outlets                               300          5,000

Local Markets                                4                 8

Food Processors/Manufacturers      2                 6

Exports within EA Community         2                6

Export Outside EA Community        2                 4

Youth employed                           1000          5000  

Our goal in the next year is to make inventory readily available to customers in order to fulfill demand.  We shall pursue the cruciual goal of matching supply with demand in a timely fashion through the most efficient use of cross-chain resources and reducing expenses. 

We must also focus on value creation for our customers. This begins with a market-driven customer service strategy that is based on clearly understanding customer requirements. 

By year 3 our goal will be to have a built-in enhanced organizational responsiveness that will help us operate and survive the challenges of globalization, economic upheaval, expanding consumer expectations, and related issues.  

Given the cost of disruptions caused by climate change, it is imperative for us to build network resilience to supply and value chain risks. Common disruption steps include risk identification, risk assessment, and risk reduction. By year 4 we will build redundancies by investing in people through cross-training.

Year 5 will be dedicated to achieving financial success that will help us scale to the next level.

Apart from poor-quality produce and lack of good agricultural practices, high transport costs and lack of regional marketing expertise makes exporting a challenge to many Rwandan farmers. 

There are other two gaps creating major barriers to exportation. Firstly, most routes leading to export and import are not controlled by Rwanda because they lie outside Rwanda’s administrative jurisdiction. This requires Rwanda’s active engagement through the East African Community. A second gap is the reported certification process which not only is difficult to comply with, but limits access to international markets.

Currently there is no elaborate bridge linking farmers to local and regional markets where they can access quality farming inputs and equally access other markets. 

The huge cost of capital outlay for the project makes it difficult to find the right funding partner. This is associated with the current general decrease in funding for agricultural sector. 

Poor quality produce and lack of good agricultural practices are areas that must be addressed if we have to deliver quality farm produce to consumers. In order to have access the farmers for training and capacity building activities, we shall require a partnership with Rwanda Co-operative Agency and the Ministry of Agriculture.

A partnership with National Agriculture Export Bureau is essential to train farmers on good agricultural practices and to train us on the export certification process since we shall be handling the marketing and logistic aspect of the aspect of the business. 

Every aspect of farming requires funding. We would like to have a partnership with One Acre Farm and Kiva to help farmers overcome the challenge of access to finance. 

Partnership with Trademark East Africa is crucial in that they have a lot of experience in reducing trade barriers in East Africa and facilitation of access to markets. 

We shall take over the marketing functions so that farmers are able to concentrate on farming 

As far as high transport costs are concerned, we shall also forge partnerships with transport companies who will give us very competitive rates considering the volume of work we shall be offering them.

N/A

At the moment we have a team of 3 working of the project.

Patrick Nizeyimana - Lead Innovation Officer: A seasoned serial entrepreneur with a passion for disruptive business, marketing and mobile applications especially those that have impact on the African Continent. He will provide vision

Ivan Ochieng - Team Lead: Social entrepreneur & former Chairman of Kenya Association of Manufacturers SME Caucus with extensive experience from the private sector. He will run the day-to-day activities

Ivan Ruzibiza - Business Development Lead:  An experienced and passionate IT Engineer with a keen interest in agriculture and food security and previous working experience with Microsoft.  He will identify new business opportunities - including new markets, growth areas, trends, customers, products and services.

We currently do not have any partnerships yet.

We are positioning ourselves as market intermediary business model. We provide our services to help farmers access markets. We add value to the farm produce. We either purchase the farm produce or take them on consignment and sell them in high margin markets at a mark-up.

Our mission centers on strengthening markets and facilitating clients' financial security by helping farmers develop and sell their produce. We achieve financial self-sufficiency through the sale of farm produce. Our revenue is used to pay the business' operating expenses and to cover costs of rendering product development (washing, packaging and branding), storage, logistics, marketing and services to clients.

The Collection Centers are equipped with a unit that adds value by ensuring that all the collected produce is cleaned and fit for the market in accordance with certification guidelines for both local and international agricultural markets. 

The Packaging Unit ensures that produce is not damaged while in storage and transit. Also installed will be a dedicated refrigerated unit providing cold storage to extends shelf-life and nutritional value of perishable produce. 

To increase consumer confidence in the quality of produce, we offer a Traceability software to track farm produce from farm to consumer.

The Marketing unit will source and attracts both local and international markets where produce will be sold. This is made easier with our eCommerce platform where customers can transact while the logistics unit delivers produce to consumer.

We plan to have a waste disposal unit to process waste to organic fertilizer. 

Apart from prize funding, the nine-month personalized support from the Solve's cross-sector community is invaluable. We need the knowledge and experience from the community of experts. 

We believe that the MIT network has entities and people we would like to build meaningful partnerships that will validate both our impact and business model and successfully help scale our solution.

The Solve community comprises of investors, entrepreneurs, researchers and other like minded people. We would like to share our experiences and learn from them too.

Business models are ever changing and expertise in the right direction is welcome.

Partnership in funding and revenue model is essential as it affects every aspect of the solution. We believe that the right financial partner would help our solution attract more potential investors and raise more capital to grow the venture. 

It is easy to have blind spots about the way we conduct business. Board members and advisors will bring more experience and knowledge that we may be lacking or complementary skills to help us grow. 

A set of new eyes can help us to track implementation and measure effectiveness of our solution. Monitoring and evaluation will point out when progress is going as planned or when changes are required.

We need partnerships in marketing media and exposure because we constantly will need to be introduced to new audiences or offer something new to our customers.   

We would like to partner with the following but not limited to this list below:

1. Trademark East Africa. Their experience and expertise would give us the benefit of increased physical access to markets, both local and international. 

2. Rwanda Co-operatives Agency to help us reach out to farmers in the food value and supply chains. 

3. National Agricultural Export Bureau offers many services that focus on exports which we shall require.

4. Ministry of Agriculture,Rwanda

5. Kiva 

6. One Acre Farm

7. Rwanda Co-operative Agency

8. MIT faculty or initiatives

9. Solve members

We are using technology to replace the human ability applied in the agricultural supply and value chains. 

Tracing where food comes from is important because to the consumer, it translates to being certain about the quality of the food that is on their plate. The food traceability system allows us to have complete visibility and control of farm produce at every stage of the supply chain. 

We will use the AI for Humanity Prize to develop and improve our system to current international standards

We are seeking to solve one of the Planets most pressing challenge. By setting up our first-mile supply chain solutions to cut down food waste and losses we will be contributing to food security. 

Reducing poverty is a key element in a policy for food security, because poor people spend such a large share of their incomes on food, leaving them vulnerable to high food prices, and many poor people obtain much of their income from farming, leaving them vulnerable to declines in agricultural output.

Every year, around 9 million people die of hunger, according to the international relief agency Mercy Corps. That's more than the death toll of AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined. Therefore it is imperative to deploy mitigation tools that will ensure food security for all.

We will use this prize to replicate our model in other African countries where food security is required most.