MVUTU

In Africa, around 95% of farmers are smallholders with only one or two hectares to cultivate, whether they own it or not. This fragmentation, coupled with limited supply chains, means they often lack access to high-quality seeds, fertilizers and crop protection products, leaving them plagued with low productivity. There are also few sales channels for them to sell their crops.

Mvutu is a technology platform providing end-to-end agricultural services to farmers, including the distribution of high quality agricultural inputs, personalized agricultural advice, access to financial services and provides a cold chain for conservation. cultures. food crops and a market for the sale of their agricultural products.

  More than 3,500 rural farmers were able to keep their jobs, multiplied by 5 farms and increase their income.
By introducing greenhouses, drip irrigation and cold chain logistics. We are increasing our farmers and ranchers from a yield of 0.5 to 7 tonnes per hectare.

In Africa, around 95% of farmers are smallholders with only one or two hectares to cultivate, whether they own it or not. This fragmentation, coupled with limited supply chains, means they often lack access to high-quality seeds, fertilizers and crop protection products, leaving them plagued with low productivity. There are also few sales channels for them to sell their crops and having nowhere to store their produce, they are forced to sell them when they are most abundant and at the lowest prices. They are caught in a vicious cycle of poor performance, poor quality and poverty.

In Congo, about half of farmers' production never reaches the market and this loss is spread across the value chain from farm to market due to poor transportation and storage leading to spoilage and loss. lack of business training for smallholders. We work with farmers, optimizing their production opportunities from 0.5 to 7 tonnes / hectare, reducing post-harvest losses from 48% to 10% while optimizing end-to-end storage and distribution. The company buys fresh produce from small farmers and ranchers at fair prices and processes them by cleaning, sorting, packing and marketing. Cycle of poor performance, poor quality and poverty.

We provide inputs, access to high-yielding varieties and extension support through our partners. This ensures that farmers suffer less losses, increase their production.

mVutu sources the highest quality organic produce from small farmers in the Congo. We aggregate demand and deliver a wide range of fresh and exotic produce direct from farms to the stores of B2B2C customers - retailers, wholesalers, local vendors, supermarkets, restaurants, hotels, individuals and exporters.
We help small farmers plan their crops in harmony with markets, modernize agricultural infrastructure and switch to sustainable practices. We leverage technology to ensure order flow from farm to store while organizing quality controls, distribution and customer satisfaction.

Mvutu uses data science and demand-matching technologies to open BIG markets for smallholder farmers by providing them with precise information on what to produce (demand), when to produce (when), how to produce (good agricultural practices) and for whom to produce (customer segments); provision of inputs, access to capital and expert advisers; and ensuring a stable and secure market for small farmers.

We also launched our deep learning algorithm for demand forecasting and purchasing optimization. A deep learning algorithm to optimize delivery times is also under development.

OUR HISTORY
Can we lift thousands of people out of poverty through responsible agricultural production? This is what we are trying to do.
Another story of agriculture: Sustainable agriculture, empowering communities

In one program, we visited over 2,000 farmers across Congo through the range of food waste models and transactional intermediaries, all of which resulted in lower incomes for smallholders.

As a result, over 48% of farmers' production never reaches the market and this loss is spread across the value chain from farm to market due to poor transportation and storage leading to spoilage. . This was the moment that gave us the motivation to develop a business solution to eliminate post-harvest losses and increase their smallholder farmers' income.

 Access to agricultural credit

In Congo, less than 1% of conventional bank loans are dedicated to the agricultural sector, while nearly 80% of Congolese foodstuffs are imported.

Mvutu aims not only to increase agricultural production and the incomes of smallholders, but also to increase the banking rate of the agricultural population generally excluded from the traditional banking system.

Living in smallholder farmers is our priority and a way to help increase national food production and food security.
Since our launch in January 2020 more than 3,500 rural farmers have been able to maintain employment, multiplied by 5 farming operations and increasing their income.
By introducing greenhouses, drip irrigation and cold chain logistics. We are increasing our farmers and ranchers from a yield of 0.5 to 7 tonnes per hectare. Our teams in the field work above all on training and the fight against bad practices (often erratic sowing, lack of care - weeding and fertilizer - during growth, etc.).

Our innovation, mvutuBox, is a modular solar-powered cold room for 24/7 off-grid storage and preservation of perishable foods. It adequately solves the problem of post-harvest losses of fruits, vegetables and other perishable goods by extending their shelf life from 2 days to 21 days. We have already stored 5,000 tonnes of fruit and vegetables thanks to our refrigeration solution.

VALUE PROPOSITION

Mvutu works hand in hand with 3,500 smallholder farmers to facilitate the collection of crops and their transport to urban centers for distribution to help them improve their incomes and reduce post-harvest losses.

  Mvutu supports 700 informal sector food vendors to ensure a stable food supply to help them improve their income, working conditions and contribute to food security.

BENEFITS

Benefits for farmers:
-Guaranteed market for the harvest
-Reduction of expenses and post-harvest losses
-Purchase price of competitive and fair products, displayed in real time
-Assistance and agricultural advice
Resources and access to zero interest free credit from Mvutu partners.

Benefits for sellers:
-Competitive and fair prices -Products of
quality
-Delivery
free - Food safety guaranteed thanks to product traceability
-Access to microcredit from Mvutu partners.

Over 60% of the population of sub-Saharan Africa are smallholder farmers. Farmers lose 48% of their vegetable crops, 35% of their fruit and vegetable crops and 25% of their income due to the lack of cold rooms.

Mvutu is developing affordable technologies to help farmers increase their productivity, improve yields and minimize losses. We bring together everything a farmer needs: drip irrigation, greenhouse cultivation, finance, inputs, advice and market access.

We use cold storage and professional handling to ensure high quality of fresh produce and modern green technology is applied in all activities.
We aggregate, produce and distribute using modern techniques of mobile technology.

We started this journey in 2020 with one overriding goal: to develop a sustainable model to create premium consumer goods for Congolese while simultaneously creating income and employment opportunities for Congolese. So far, we have built a strong network of over 3,500 small farmers and 600 dealers in 2 counties in Congo Pool  Nkouo and created over 50 jobs. On average, the smallholders we work with have seen their income increase by up to 25%!

The innovation is focused on a unique business model the company buys fresh fruits, vegetables, eggs, chickens from farmers at fair prices. Empower more than 3,500 farmers, also providing training, advice and funding. We use the most advanced technologies, including solar-powered cold storage facilities to store products to increase shelf life, and refrigerated trucks to distribute to customers.
More than 5000 tons of natural compost distributed to small farmers used food waste in a circular process.

After the cut-off time for collection, the products are sent to distribution centers where the products are sorted, classified, labeled and placed in crates. These boxes are then sent to the distribution center.

Finally, the products are transferred to smaller vehicles which are transported to the retailers. Therefore, the retailer does not have to go to the market. The vegetables are handled with a "one-touch" method and transported hygienically in clean crates. The shipment is weighed and a statement of account is given to the farmer.
With digital payments, 100% of the commission-free money is directed to farmers' bank accounts within 24 hours of purchase, whereas in traditional markets it takes more than seven days to get the money and in in most cases, farmers do not get 100% of their money.

-100% of commission-free money is directed to farmers' mobile accounts within 24 hours of purchase.
-Farmers now earn 15-20% more than before without having to travel to markets.

Mvutu is our carbon-negative, locally-produced fertilizer blend increases a farmer’s yields while reducing soil acidity. Our product has been shown to be suitable for a variety of agriculture and horticulture including:maize,rice, wheat,beans, peas,vegetables,fruits,grasses.

The value to farmers whose soil is acidified is that they will see a liming effect from our fertilizer, restoring their soil pH while reducing plant toxicity. This promotes beneficial microbial life and improved nutrient and moisture retention in the soil. At the same price as conventional fertilizers, our product delivers an improved yield of as high as 30%.

We started this journey in 2020 with one overriding goal: to develop a sustainable model to create premium consumer goods for Congolese while simultaneously creating income and employment opportunities for Congolese. So far, we have built a strong network of over 3,500 small farmers and 600 dealers in 2 counties of Congo POOL NKOUO and created over 50 jobs. On average, the smallholders we work with have seen their income increase by up to 25%!

We are extremely proud and honored to be able to create products that not only add value to the lives of our customers, but also improve the lives of hundreds of our suppliers and employees.

The road ahead

Our vision is to create the most efficient and largest supply chain platform in Congo and to significantly improve the lives of producers, businesses and consumers.

We strive to make Mvutu innovation more accessible to the most fragmented parts of society. We intend to leverage our strengths and resources to innovate for new product categories and customer segments while solving complex supply chain issues.

-We have cut out the middleman by taking control of the supply chain using technology and analytics.

-We have built reliable, cost effective and fast logistics and infrastructure to solve supply chain inefficiencies.

-On the one hand, farmers get better prices and consistent demand, and on the other hand, retailers get competitively priced fresh produce delivered to their doorstep.

5 full-time employees in administration proposing strategies overall management of the company

10 part-time employees in the field in contact with the 3500  farmers of our network. Our teams in the field work above all on training and the fight against bad practices.  

Our team is made up of young, highly qualified and enterprising leaders who are committed to working every day to meet the expectations of our clients. We are a team of entrepreneurs, product developers, coders and changers. We want to create a world where everyone has stable access to sufficient healthy food. 

We are creating a new profession, that of urban farmer and fish farmer: Aquagriculteurs. We want to multiply their number and allow everyone to produce excellent pesticide crops in the city:

Prince Batantou Managing Director at Mvutu Personal Finance Coach at Réussirdansmavie Sales Manager at FranklinCovey Congo chief Executive Officer, who has primary responsibility for maintaining a strategic fit between company resources and external factors. The functioning of all day-to-day operations, technological and operational.

Merveil Mavougou CTO

Responsibility for controlling the profitability and solvency of the company, anticipating its development strategy and the necessary financing. Control the company's accounts and the proper management of its cash flow. Professional with 5 years of experience in the financial sector  for blueCongo, 100% electric cars from the Bolloré Group.

Roland alavo IT manager designer of IOT for AquagriTech kits. Android development · Web development · Custom software development ·Mobile application development 

Bahamboula wilde 

Agronomist 10 years of experience at Eco oil. This is the new profession that we find at AquagriTech, Manager for production of greenhouses or aquaponics units. They manage the timing of planting, harvesting by performing various agronomic and aquaculture operations in full compliance with AquagriTech best practices.

We are a team of software engineers, data scientists, economists and operators with in-depth experience, managers of cold chain management, and value chain implementation. We value taking risks at the service of a radical scale, listening carefully and a tireless commitment to understanding our customers and their needs.

Responsibilities include providing strategic direction for the company, exploring opportunities for expansion, and facilitating and managing the strategic alliance. We are a team of entrepreneurs, product developers, coders and changers. We want to create a world where everyone has stable access to sufficient and healthy food. And as we progress, we recruit new people to join the adventure.

Be part of something big
We are more than 4000 people. MVUTU is the place of innovators, problem solvers and tormentors. If you're looking for a job that presents real-world challenges and allows you to explore your potential, the infectious energy here will have you creating wonders that exceed your own expectations.

Why we do it
For decades, the traditional fresh produce supply chain was highly inefficient with zero food security, until a few brave men decided to tackle this age-old problem and build a 100% traceable supply chain. .

At Mvutu, we intend to significantly improve the lives of producers, business owners and consumers while solving one of the most difficult supply chain issues our country has to offer with technology.

We strongly believe in the philosophy offered by Solve that innovation can come from anywhere on earth. We see great value in engaging with the community of solvers who face challenges similar to us. We can mentor early stage innovators by sharing the lessons we have learned. We value the insights we can learn from Solve mentors who see trends and tools we can leverage to make a bigger impact. We already find it helpful to collaborate with a research partner at MIT. Participating in the Solve community will increase our ability to learn from academia while sharing our knowledge.

We need technical expertise in terms of setting up

systems that we can use to monitor incoming and outgoing volumes, to develop a remote management system We have also launched our deep learning algorithm for demand forecasting and purchasing optimization. A deep learning algorithm to optimize delivery times is also under development.

-We are convinced that Solve's partners or support will enable us to obtain sufficient technical, managerial and financial resources to achieve our objectives.

-We will receive nine months of personalized assistance from Solve staff and members of the Solve cross-industry community. Thanks to these connections, we will build the partnerships necessary to accelerate our work, validate our impact and our economic model, and evolve our solution.

-Finally, we need experienced staff at a reasonable cost, especially as we grow.

MVUTU seeks to achieve the following objectives when deploying the initial pilots:

Develop and expand to new uses for their underwater robot Using the Internet of Things we can use the smarter MVUTU uses data science and demand matching technologies to meet specific demand requirements large buyers by increasing product flow capabilities.
Technology is an integral part of farming operations with Mvutu. Data plays an important role in optimizing bird performance and in establishing business forecasts
We also launched our deep learning algorithm for demand forecasting and purchasing optimization. A deep learning algorithm to optimize delivery and collection times for bio-waste is also under development.
Refine their business and revenue model from a prototype to a replicable service
 Cultivate a marketing and social media presence to reach new partners and customers
To achieve the objectives mentioned above, AquagriTech is looking for partnerships for:

Coach and advise product development and strategic planning
Support marketing and communications that clearly distribute data
Connect with investors and funders to advance their fundraising strategy

Thanks to the Andan Prize for Innovation in Refugee Inclusion, we will join 2000 Refugees in Congo, to benefit from our technical and financial support programs for small farmers.

How it works?

MVUTU connects refugee farmers and agricultural producers with end consumers to ensure transparency and traceability. We facilitate the connection between small farmers and end consumers to ensure transparency and traceability.
Selection
The process begins with the selection of agricultural project leaders and the identification of their needs.
Training
The selected refugee farmers enter an academy to train in optimized agricultural production techniques.
Funding
Project leaders who have successfully completed the training receive funding for improved seeds, agricultural inputs and interest-free micro-credits at zero rate for the implementation of their production.
Redemption and distribution
We solve the problem of product disposal by buying back the production of our partners that we ingest from our refrigerated distribution chain.

Mvutu is developing affordable technologies to help refugee farmers increase their productivity, improving yields and minimizing losses. We bring together everything a farmer needs: drip irrigation, greenhouse cultivation, finance, farm inputs, advice and market access. We use cold storage facilities to ensure high quality of fresh produce and modern green technology is applied in all activities, such as irrigation, greenhouses, cooling and transportation.

Thanks to our program, more than 2,000 refugee farmers will have:

-Keep a job multiplied by 5 farms and increase their income to 85%.

-Improve their productions from 0.5 to 7 tonnes per hectare
-Minimize post-harvest losses from 48% to 10%.

Launched in 2020 in #Congo, the Maisons Paysannes de Mvutu are two complementary initiatives that have 7,000 small farmers in the pilot phase. The goal is to reach 5 million small farmers and create 40,000 additional jobs by 2030 through partnerships with public and private actors.

MVUTU's mission: Increase access to fresh, quality food for all budgets, and promote food empowerment of populations.

In view of the advantages granted by MVUTU, we will solve the following problems:

 • Promote the food empowerment of populations

 • Contribution to the fight against food insecurity and malnutrition

 • Contribution to the development of urban agriculture, breeding and poultry farming

 • Contribution to environmental protection by removing the supply chain consuming fossil fuels

• Support local communities by connecting farmers to access to finance, premium markets and data. Mvutu is developing affordable technologies to help farmers increase their productivity, improving yields and minimizing losses. We bring together everything a farmer needs: drip irrigation, greenhouse cultivation, finance, farm inputs, advice and market access.

The Innovation Prize for Women will allow us to expand our network to more than 5,000 women farmers who will receive agricultural credits, seeds, greenhouses, drip irrigation systems, training and advice for new agricultural practices. to increase and improve their production from 0.5 to 7 tonnes per hectare. Thanks to our cold rooms, they will be able to reduce post-harvest losses from 48% to 10% and increase their income to 85%.

The Innovation Award for Women will also allow us to computerize the small-scale food supply chain to pioneer a mobile sales solution in the agricultural sector. Mvutu enables staple food m-commerce, we have developed a mobile sales system allowing poor women to:

Structured finance enabling farmers to make key investments Access capital for inputs through structured in-kind finance from Mvutu. Mvutu uses mobile money to provide the farming tools and finance smallholder farmers need to increase their production.
Mvutu Center is a one stop shop for comprehensive agricultural services. Women farmers have access to quality material inputs, coordinate the sale of its products to institutional buyers, and receive timely, science-based agricultural advice, often tailored to their specific farming conditions. Micro-finance and agro-insurance services will soon also be available to farmers. A chain of Mvutu centers dot the countryside in our area of operation - most of them run by local franchise owners, also known as Mvutu Micro-Entrepreneur or Mvutu Coordinator.

MVUTU connects pirate and boat owners with Congolese fishermen via a digital solution compatible with the Internet of Things (IoT) that bridges the gap between manual and mechanized fishing.

Robust design, high sensitivity sensors, tamper proof, weather resistant and perfectly suited to all makes of tractors and combine harvesters.

High sensitivity GPS up to 2 meters with international SIM cards and the ability to navigate different telecommunications networks.

Qualified technicians available in certain markets to help you install devices on your machines and support after-sales service.

Ability to store data offline for up to 30 days and download reports in batches when your machines are back online.

Comparison of Mvutu software packages
Sensor technology is at the heart of our business. With these little black boxes, we glean information about the inner workings of all types of two- and four-wheel tractors, and combine and use that information to create information that leads to our market-defining analyzes.

Monitoring Fishing Vessels and Operators - Our premier offering that keeps tractor owners informed of their asset operations in the field

Booking agent app: Create exclusive bookings with your own agents arranging work for your fleet.

Route Optimization: Sophisticated tools to ensure tractors spend more time in the field, saving money and less time on the road moving between jobs.

Support: Be assigned to a Customer Success Officer to ensure your operation is operating at peak levels.

Fuel: Robust fuel management to monitor fuel efficiency and prevent abuse and theft.

Mvutu is a technology platform providing end-to-end agricultural services to farmers, including the distribution of high-quality agricultural inputs, personalized agricultural advice, access to financial services and provides a cold chain for conservation. cultures. food crops and a market for the sale of their agricultural products.

We help small farmers plan their crops in harmony with markets, modernize agricultural infrastructure and switch to sustainable practices. We leverage technology to ensure order flow from farm to store while organizing quality controls, distribution and customer satisfaction.

 A blend of locally produced fertilizers increases a farmer's yields while reducing soil acidity. Our product has been found to be suitable for a variety of agriculture and horticulture, including: corn, rice, wheat, beans, peas, vegetables, fruits, flowers.

The benefit to farmers with acidified soil is that they will see a liming effect of our fertilizer, restoring the pH of their soil while reducing the toxicity of the plants. This promotes beneficial microbial life and better retention of nutrients and moisture in the soil. At the same price as conventional fertilizers, our product offers an improved yield of up to 30%.

As a secondary environmental benefit, our carbon-rich fertilizer sequesters carbon in the soil for hundreds of years; at the same time, our conversion process also reduces particulate emissions from traditional combustion of crop residues in the open field by more than 95%.

So far, we have built a strong network of over 3,500 smallholder farmers and 600 dealers. On average, the smallholders we work with have seen their incomes increase by up to 25%.

In Congo, about half of peasant production never reaches the

market and this loss is spread across the entire value chain from farm to market due to poor transportation and storage leading to deterioration and lack of market training for smallholders

Given the perishability of food and infrastructure challenges in Africa, deep learning gives us a solid advantage over companies that are just e-commerce platforms.

With accurate forecasting of future food demand, Mvutu is able to reduce waste compared to other platforms which may overestimate or underestimate food needs, and can provide insurance to its customers. that they will be able to meet their demands. Mvutu facilitates the management of pre-harvest and post-harvest activities. Farmers 'activities can be easily tracked from planting to arrival of produce in buyers' warehouses.
Mvutu uses data science and demand-matching technologies to open BIG markets for smallholder farmers by providing them with precise information on what to produce (demand), when to produce (when), how to produce (good agricultural practices) and for whom to produce (customer segments); provision of inputs, access to capital and expert advisers; and ensuring a stable and secure market for small farmers.
We also launched our deep learning algorithm for demand forecasting and purchasing optimization. A deep learning algorithm to optimize delivery times is also under development.
Farmers in our network regularly receive location-specific weather information, also provided in their local language. These weather updates come from around 80 weather stations across the country, ensuring accurate forecasts.

Learn what the blockchain really is and how it can be applied in agriculture!

Easy to understand animations teach the mechanics of blockchain and Mvutu provides the context for the smallholder farmers whose lives it could change forever.

Selling crops in Senegal is often a complex issue. It's about finding the right balance between controlling the crop, finding a potential supplier and doing a post-harvest bundle sale. These are all elements that have intermediary costs. The kilo is sold at a price much lower than what the farmer could have perceived with better optimization of all these steps.

Automate the monitoring of the agricultural ecosystem
This collaborative platform makes it possible to interconnect the actors of the agricultural ecosystem. Investors and producers can have technical and financial information on production, from seed to harvest.

The smart calculator uses artificial intelligence to provide technical information such as production steps and tips for each phase of vegetable growth. But also financial advice. Thus, the farmer can know what expenses to expect when purchasing seed, those related to plowing or leveling, transplanting, purchasing equipment or fertilizer and many more. Finally, it greatly simplifies the calculation of turnover and profits.

Based on basic information such as the number of hectares and the speculation rate, the application provides on its own the number of daily transplantings to be expected and the price of seeds and products to use.