MIT Solve

Solution Overview

Solution Name:

Chooya Africa

One-line solution summary:

A local market online shopping platform for busy moms, pregnant women, working individuals, and businesses such as restaurants and hotels.

Pitch your solution.

Over 95% of the food eaten in Africa is supplied by local markets. It's expected to still supply up to 70% of the food across Sub-Saharan Africa by 2040.

The problem is that most consumers do not have the inclination to go shopping at local markets considering how stressful and time-consuming it can be.

Also, most local producers can't easily access new and sustainable markets considering the distance from their farms to local markets across urban centers.

Chooya fixes these problems through its online local food shopping platform that helps consumers and businesses directly access quality food from local food producers across local markets.

This will help save up to 25% of spending on food for families and individuals, reduce food waste by more than 60%, increase revenue for local food producers, increase production for local producers creating access to new jobs, and strengthen local economies through local wealth creation.

What specific problem are you solving?

In Sub-Saharan Africa, post-harvest food losses are estimated to be worth US $ 4 billion per year - or enough to feed at least 48 million people.

Chooya is focused to provide local producers access to new and sustainable markets which will help promote sustainable agriculture and affordable access to local food for families and individuals.

What is your solution?

Chooya a local market online shopping platform for busy moms, pregnant women, working individuals, and businesses such as restaurants and hotels to access local food supplies across these local markets.

And how it works is this, our customers get onto our web or mobile platform to access local markets around and beyond them, browse through catalogs of local affordable foods, snap/upload their market list, and schedule the time they want their other to arrive. We receive these orders, process them, and deliver them through our Third-party Logistics Partners (3LPs) base on our customers' specifications and time schedule.

And through strategic offline neighborhood food retail stores, offline customers still access affordable local food supplies from our network of local producers helping increase sales for them and reduce the overall spending on food for our customers.

With our offline mobile solution users with access to the internet can still search for products in the market to get the current market price, sellers' contact, submit a quote, or even complete an offline payment.

Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?

Rural communities and local producers have been excluded from global trade opportunities as a result of who they are and where they come from. And with difficulty in accessing new and sustainable markets, most of them have remained poor and live below $1.25/day.

Likewise, there is an increasing 40 million middle-class and low-income Nigerians who access local food monthly. And this addressable population is seeking affordable food to save a huge chunk of their monthly spending on food.

In fixing this market friction of demand and supply gap, food waste will reduce drastically and demand will increase helping local producers make more money while individuals and families can save extra money from accessing local affordable foods.

We strongly believe that this is one of the most effective ways of building local wealth for local communities.

With the launch of our offline trade mobile solution, we have been able to understand their need, expectations, and aspirations.

Which dimension of the Challenge does your solution most closely address?

Other

Explain how the problem you are addressing, the solution you have designed, and the population you are serving align with the Challenge.

Our solution is focused on meeting the pains of the excluded local food producers across rural communities who do not have access to new and sustainable markets. In solving the pain above, we create a huge impact on the lives of millions of middle-class and low-income individuals seeking to access affordable food.

Our target audience is focused on underserved local food producers and low-income consumers in the Southeast and Niger Delta region of Nigeria as our pilot phase.

And with our offline solution, people without access to the internet and smartphone still can participate in global trade.

In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?

Aba, Nigeria

What is your solution’s stage of development?

Pilot: An organization deploying a tested product, service, or business model in at least one community.

Explain why you selected this stage of development for your solution.

Our solution was launched in Aba, Nigeria. It is currently being tested by over 500 subscribers using our current business model.

And in the last 100 days of pivoting to this new business model, we have hook up with about 50 local produces helping them process over $2,000 in total revenue.

The success of the business model attracted the interest of one of the State Governments within the region. With a partnership already secured to support her local food producers, we believe that will help facilitate growth.

Who is the Team Lead for your solution?

Igwe Uguru