MIT Solve

Solution Overview & Team Lead Details

Solution name.

VictualMart LTD

Provide a one-line summary of your solution.

A digital agricultural market and meal ticketing platform. With VictualMart, Farmers make money when selling, consumers save money/time when buying, and the youth gets employed by working as VictualMart Agent.

What specific problem are you trying to solve?

Wastage of perishable food,
Inadequate access to market after harvest,
increase in the price of foodstuff,
hunger and unavailability of food are issues most farmers and consumers face day in and day out

With Nigeria depending on food import for a tenth of its food needs, border closures and restrictions on movement during the spring and summer months have also affected the availability of food in the market. Farmers have been left to deal with the reality of post-harvest losses.

Here, COVID-19 was known as the hunger virus as food has become inaccessible. In my community, a lot of people died more of hunger than of the virus.

The handwriting of imminent food shortage in Nigeria had been on the wall for many years, long before concerned global organizations sounded the warning. The combined effects of armed conflicts, COVID-19 pandemic, and climate change have been ascertained as factors that would inevitably drag down agricultural output. It is therefore not surprising that the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation’s Representative in Nigeria, Fred Kafeero formally raised the alarm the other day, pointing out that an estimated 9.2 million Nigerians from 16 states and the Federal Capital Territory face food insecurity. Source - https://guardian.ng/opinion/in...

Food is the most purchased basic commodity and any impact made in the food market will better the lives of the general public.

What is your solution?

VictualMart is a mobile application that bridges the gap between farmers and buyers, it is a digital agricultural market that gives smallholder farmers an opportunity to connect more easily with buyers in order to sell their farm produce efficiently as well as give buyers the opportunity to purchase victuals at a subsidized rate. It simplifies the tedious process of purchasing victuals by bringing both parties together on a single platform. With a simple user interface and dual functionality, the application serves both farmers and purchasers depending on the role the user logs in with. The application's layout is quite descriptive and this allows for easy posting, searching, categorization and payment.

With our solution, Farmers can make money when selling, consumers save money and time when buying, Nigerian youth gets employed by working for us as VictualMart agent.

Who does your solution serve? In what ways will the solution impact their lives?

Farmers

Transportation of farm inputs from the farm gate to the market (i.e. overcoming the isolation of smallholder farmers).
Provide a good storage facility.
Creating a web of farmers (Having a database of farmers).
Connect farmers to potential buyers at a fair price.
Teaching farmers the farm management practices that will let them double or even triple their yields.
Making quick returns & profits.

Customers

Easy access to victuals at a subsidized rate.
Reduction of hunger and poverty by lowering food prices and accessibility.
Connect buyers (individuals, hotels, or fast foods) to farmers.
Early deliveries.

Planet:

Sourcing for organic and local food to sell to consumers in other to reduce carbon footprint. This method reduces “Food Mile” because the distance food travels from production to the customers makes up a small percentage of its overall carbon footprint.
Campaigning on the need for the customers to eat a meat-free meal in other to reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emission such as methane, nitrous oxide emitted by livestock.

How are you and your team well-positioned to deliver this solution?

Our team is comprised of individuals with entrepreneurial skills and experience in programming, customer service, business development, social media marketing/marketing, negotiation, event planning/organizing, driving, farming/agriculture, etc. Our core team include;

A highly motivated and passionate Chief Executive Officer/Co-founder, with diverse experience in farming, effective agricultural practices, a software developer and a seasoned entrepreneur.

A supportive Chief Operating Officer/Co-founder, also with experience in agricultural practices and supply chain, event planning/organizing, marketing, tech-savvy and a researcher.

A professional Chief Technical Officer, with 7 years experience in software development and business management.

And a Chief Logistics Officer with experience running a logistics business, customer service, digital marketing and web development.

What steps have you taken to understand the needs of the population you want to serve?

VictualMart is founded by innovative young girls from Cross River State Nigeria. We saw the need to tackle poverty and hunger through the lens of Agriculture. We experienced the problem by looking at the problem We were facing in our own community which includes wastage of perishable food, inadequate access to the market after harvest, low crop yield, hunger, and poverty, understood the problem by understanding how agriculture and rural development can create jobs and livelihood for smallholder farmers and the landless while producing raw materials for the urban economy, we discovered the problem’s weakness and decided to solve it by creating a mobile application VictualMart which connects smallholder farmers to potential buyers. We believe that enabling smallholder farmers to grow more food to sell to consumers at a fair price would better the lives of the poor people in Nigeria.

We have done research with potential users, volunteered for rural farmers to understand the problem, and engaged potential users in the design and development of our solution. This move helped us to have a better user experience and got positive feedbacks from users during our testing phase

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

Taking action to combat climate change and its impacts (Sustainability)

What is your solution’s stage of development?

Prototype: A venture or organization building and testing its product, service, or business model

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

Calabar, Nigeria

Who is the Team Lead for your solution?

Jane Odey

More About Your Solution

What makes your solution innovative?

VictualMart is a digital agricultural market that gives smallholder farmers an opportunity to connect more easily with buyers in order to sell their farm produce efficiently as well as give buyers the opportunity to purchase victuals at a subsidized rate. It simplifies the tedious process of purchasing victuals by bringing both parties together on a single platform. With a simple user interface and dual functionality, the app serves both farmers and purchasers depending on the role the user logs in with. The application’s layout is quite descriptive and this allows for easy posting, searching, categorization and payment.

After the mobile app is downloaded and installed from playstore, users can start leveraging its full functionality by first signing up and then login, after purchase the client’s bill is calculated after each transaction, with the amount and transaction ID stored online. During the final checkout system, customers can pay through the bank or by online transfer. Notification of a request for SHOPPING AND PAYMENT PROCESS comes on through the admin side of our application, watched using the smart device and the laptop during working hours of 8:00 am to 5: 00 pm. Farmers are immediately notified and connected to a ready buyer in their region to sell his/her product. The request is stored in a virtual order tray and forwarded to the Van driver or VictualMart agent. The driver/agent picks up the victuals and delivers them to the appropriate billing and shipping address.

What are your impact goals for the next year, and how will you achieve them?

By the end of next year, we hope to:

Impact at least 200 farmers to grow more food and sell while making profits
Empower young girls and women to see the need to venture into the Agricultural market
Employ at least 50 local talents to serve as VictualMart agents and other key areas.
Reduce the amount of greenhouse gas emission caused by livestock
Bridge the digital divide amongst farmers and create inclusion.
Introduce Hydroponic farming as a way of helping the landless.

Describe the core technology that powers your solution.

VictualMart is a digital agricultural market that gives smallholder farmers an opportunity to connect more easily with buyers in order to sell their farm produce efficiently as well as give buyers the opportunity to purchase victuals at a subsidized rate. It simplifies the tedious process of purchasing victuals by bringing both parties together on a single platform. With a simple user interface and dual functionality, the app serves both farmers and purchasers depending on the role the user logs in with. The application’s layout is quite descriptive and this allows for easy posting, searching, categorization and payment.

After the mobile app is downloaded and installed from playstore, users can start leveraging its full functionality by first signing up and then login, after purchase the client’s bill is calculated after each transaction, with the amount and transaction ID stored online. During the final checkout system, customers can pay through the bank or by online transfer. Notification of a request for SHOPPING AND PAYMENT PROCESS comes on through the admin side of our application, watched using the smart device and the laptop during working hours of 8:00 am to 5: 00 pm. Farmers are immediately notified and connected to a ready buyer in their region to sell his/her product. The request is stored in a virtual order tray and forwarded to the Van driver or VictualMart agent. The driver/agent picks up the victuals and delivers them to the appropriate billing and shipping address.

Please select the technologies currently used in your solution:

Software and Mobile Applications

In which countries do you currently operate?

Nigeria

How many people does your solution currently serve, and how many do you plan to serve in the next year? If you haven’t yet launched your solution, tell us how many people you plan to serve in the next year.

Current Number:

Currently, our solution is serving 20 farmers that are heavily involved in the cultivation and harvesting, and sales of the agricultural produce. We have been able to record a total of 174 sales. We have 5 VictualMart agent that works closely with the Chief Agricultural officer and farmers to ensure that agricultural produce Is readily available.

The number we will be serving in the next year:

We hope to have over 1,500 active customers that will buy Victuals at a subsidized rate, recruit over 200 local farmers to grow more food and sell while making profits, and empower 50 local talents to serve as VictualMart agents while in turn making money by our 1st year in business.

What barriers currently exist for you to accomplish your goals in the next year?

Poor/Bad Roads: Many Nigerian’s smallholder farmers live far from cities and towns and are often poorly served by roads. Markets that provide inputs or purchase outputs may be many kilometers away and essentially inaccessible.

Language Barrier: Here, a lot of people do not understand how to speak even Nigerian Pidgin English, in this case, we need to talk to community chiefs and youths to convey our message to the farmers.

Inappropriate way of storing perishable goods: Government policies and regulatory bodies / Regulatory Barriers – Government may hinder

Financial Aid (Cash flow issue) – Lack of funding and available resources may lead to improper planning and management of VictualMart for the next year.

Cultural Barrier: It is typically more difficult to do business in a foreign community than in one’s home community due to cultural barriers. So, expanding to other communities may be difficult and require a lot of resources and manpower.

Your Team

Business Model