M-GHALA

M-Ghala is a data-driven, high-impact virtual food bank specifically designed to meet the needs of ultra-poor small-scale farmers in rural

M-Ghala is a data-driven, high-impact virtual food bank specifically designed to meet the needs of ultra-poor small-scale farmers in rural, Arid, and semi-arid populations in Kenya who currently face many obstacle’s as they try to freely access open-air markets in their locality due to Covid-19  restrictions. The restriction and closure of local open-air markets have left the poor farmers to grapple with a lack of market, and low prices resulting in despair, and loss of livelihoods. With the majority of the ultra-poor farmers lacking skills in post-harvest loss, storage, value addition, and animal husbandry the only alternative during the lockdown was to engage in barter trade as a means of exchange due to cash crunch. Being an unregulated mode of trade farmers faced the challenge of qualifying the value of goods being traded amongst themselves through barter trade and with businesses men thus making massive losses. With ultra-poor and small-scale farmers producing very little produce the need to aggregate produce and sell it in a lump sum was a matter of urgency

Tailored for Ultra-Poor small-scale farmers Women., M-Ghala is a data-driven, high-impact virtual food bank specifically designed to meet the needs of remote rural areas Arid and semi-arid populations facing problems in market access due to Covid-19. In the comfort of their home, the farmers will continue to conduct barter and cash sales for animal and food items remotely on a daily. Through a simple application a farmer dials a USSD code which directs them to the M-Ghala platform whereby they choose a language, then choose from the multiple-choice list of products and quantities they intended to sell and make a choice of products they intend to trade-off. M-Ghala then automatically prices and assign produce in the virtual granary and food bank according to orders and availability. A motorcycle rider (Bodaboda) trained in quality check and operating in the vicinity of where the farmer is gets an SMS alert to visit the farmer within half an hour, check on produce quality and quantity, key in the details and verify what the farmer said they had. Immediately they are directed on where to drop the product and at the same time pick up from the other farmer what is being traded and vice versa. Within a short while trading takes place and everyone gets what they need for the value of their produce. This eliminates man hours spent calling looking for buyers for small food items and animals. Whatever was not exchanged is advertised immediately in real-time through social media platforms with alerts going out to vendors, traders, and buyers who have registered with the platform to order and purchase the products.  

  The effectiveness of the M-Ghala virtual granary and food bank in promoting resilience and improving the livelihoods of the extremely poor has been locally recognized and validated by small-scale farmers

Tailored for Ultra-Poor small-scale farmers Women., M-Ghala meets the needs of remote rural areas Arid and semi-arid populations facing problems in market access due to Covid-19.

The effectiveness of the M-Ghala virtual granary and food bank in promoting resilience and improving the livelihoods of the extremely poor has been locally recognized and validated by small-scale farmers. M-Ghala has proved that community-led and thoughtful innovative solutions can result in local adaptation, and enable ultra-poor farmers to build a pathway out of extreme poverty by addressing three inter-related elements that contribute to the cycle of poverty: low incomes, inconsistent cash flows, and inadequate marketing opportunities. Through its focus on investing in the poorest, most vulnerable women, M-Ghala gives extremely poor women farmers something they never had the opportunity to do something for themselves and their families despite an environment that grows more challenging by the day. 

 M-Ghala does not discriminate in the size of produce and farmer can deposit even one egg per day. In situations where a farmer would not have access to other farm products due to lack of cash, the platform them to exchange products in real-time and hustle free within the community for prevailing needs. 

 M-Ghala offers an alternative model for last-mile distributions that combine the best of both worlds by connecting the physical (which has a high level of trust) and the digital for ultra-poor farmers. 

 M-Ghala is a single, integrated information system where the user experience of the system is relatively simple to understand and use with quite minimal training. 

Outcomes

• Direct access to assured markets for farmers through the pooled and aggregated system.
• Access to digital financial systems, assets, and savings 
• Poverty graduation through improved thus improved household well-being ( access to local nutritious products)
• Reduced post-harvest loss
• Resilience to life shocks, drought, and famine
• Traceability of products for buyers/vendors
• Localized job creation
• Impact data that inform real-time interventions
• Best practices for enhancing digital services for marginalized ultra-poor farmers  

Our innovative project is a result of addressing pain and was designed through a collaborative process that involved ultra-poor women and stakeholders in the communities. The project is able to mobilize quickly and build distributed teams of community champions and last-mile entrepreneurs, creatively pushing successful project implementation despite staff resource constraints. The community and caregivers' ownership of the project and feedback on what is working and what can be improved in real-time has created trust and belief in the process. 

The team is led by Emmanuel Njihia Ndua aged an IT enthusiast with a passion for community. He has some experience in community-led design processes and designs thinking processes. He is currently an apprentice at STAMP CLEANTECH LTD an award-winning impact organization. 

His chief adviser is his father Kenth Ndua Mitambo an accomplished innovator in health, water, energy, and ICT.

His co-innovators are his 14 years brothers James Wesly Ndua and John Wesley Ndua.

• Currently an apprentice at STAMP CLEANTECH LTD where this idea is currently being incubated and mentored.
• The innovator and the farmers through a human-centered design approach developed the idea of M-Ghala a virtual food granary and bank that allows farmers to virtually record, store, and sell their farm produce online at a premium to reduce value loss, exploit, and regulate the enhanced barter trade model of trade within their locality regardless of quantities of farm produce and animals.
• Building linkages with Agricultural ministries, cooperatives, aggregators of agricultural commodities and agro-dealers, and agro vets who play a critical role in the farmer’s ecosystem. 

M-Ghala is enabling the blending and use of legacy data collection methods, modern analysis and reporting skills which is then disseminated to a local farmer using SMS, call assisted support and externally through e-commerce platforms. In future a pictorial virtual granary allowing one to see on real time the available produce in a day, prices, delivery times and points is on course of design. 

 The impact of M-Ghala in its simplicity is being felt with reduction in post-harvest loss due to lack of market and storage for quick perishing products like vegetables, fruits and milk which has formed the bulk of barter and cash sales. Households are able to deposit and earn interest from food deposits and withdraw to meet emergencies. Marginalized ultra-poor farmers now have access to Internet, mobile technologies and devices, as well as data analytics that has improved the generation of real time data, that now informs barter trade and cash sales. 

 Sales payments to be done done through virtual platforms like M-Pesa and proceeds then deposited in M-Ghala bank account virtually. Depending on what a farmer sold for cash a statement is availed weekly to them. M-Ghala also enables the farmers to save and sell small amount of produce without withdrawing building enough funds for future use.

 The effectiveness of M-Ghala virtual granary nd food bank in promoting resilience and improving the livelihoods of the extreme poor has been locally recognized and validated by small scale farmers.

 M-Ghala is a community led and thoughtful innovative solutions that will result in local adaptation, enabling ultra-poor farmers build a pathway out of extreme poverty by addressing three inter-related elements that contribute to the cycle of poverty: low incomes, inconsistent cash flows, and inadequate marketing opportunities. Through its focus on investing in the poorest, most vulnerable women, M-Ghala will give extremely poor women farmers something they never had the  opportunity to do something for themselves and their families despite an environment that grows more challenging by the day.

 M-Ghala does not discriminate the size of produce and farmer can deposit even one egg per day. In situations where a farmer would not have accessed other farm products due to lack of cash, the platform them exchange products in real time and hustle free within the community for prevailing need. Everyone has an opportunity to earn and buy remotely.

 M-Ghala offers an alternative model for last mile distributions that combine the best of both worlds by connecting the physical (which have a high level of trust) and the digital for ultra-poor farmers.

 M-Ghala is a single, integrated information system where user experience of the system is relatively is simple to  understand and use with quite minimal training.

Goal: Strengthened partnerships for scaling up climate-resilient agriculture and appropriate markets for Ultra poor Smallholder farmers.

Hypothesis: - If we increase adoption of the M-Ghala a Virtual granary $ food bank amongst          ultra-poor micro small scale farmers THEN we shall increase THE resilience of ultra-poor farmers towards post-harvest loss, market access, poor prices, malnutrition WHICH will result in improved household wellbeing, reduce vulnerability to life shocks through a home grown solution that had the user in the heart of design. 

This will result in

1.1 Improved access to localised market and virtual business management through increased   climate smart agriculture innovations and investment customised for ultra-poor small scale farmers.

2.1 75 % increase in consumption of farm produce (plant and animal) within the local community resulting in the growth of local economy thus increasing buying power since resources will rotate within. This will spur establishment of other ventures that input in the local agricultural value chain. 

3.1 Productivity growth through precision farming since farmers will have a very simplified data source that informs their decision on what is being consumed, market trends and projections thus a farmer can project the need for their produce and plan in time to deliver.

4.1 Real time conversion of analogue data and processes into a machine readable format through use of smart phones and relays the data immediately to fellow farmers, households and consumers.

5.1 Farmers can convert their farm produce into savings in the virtual bank which can be translated into cash and be exchange later for high quality farm inputs, food items or emergency needs. 

6.1 The platform results in combined progress in communication and processing capacity, data is progressively used to create knowledge and provide advice about production processes, and even to automate some activities for the marginalised ultra-poor farmer’s farms.  

1.1 Improved access to localized market and virtual business management through increased climate-smart agriculture innovations and investment customized for ultra-poor small-scale farmers.

2.1 75 % increase in consumption of farm produce (plant and animal) within the local community resulting in the growth of the local economy thus increasing buying power since resources will rotate within. This will spur the establishment of other ventures that input to the local agricultural value chain. 

3.1 Productivity growth through precision farming since farmers will have a very simplified data source that informs their decision on what is being consumed, market trends, and projections thus a farmer can project the need for their produce and plan in time to deliver.

4.1 Real-time conversion of analog data and processes into a machine-readable format through the use of smartphones and relays the data immediately to fellow farmers, households and consumers.

5.1 Farmers can convert their farm produce into savings in the virtual bank which can be translated into cash and be exchanged later for high-quality farm inputs, food items, or emergency needs. 

6.1 The platform results in combined progress in communication and processing capacity, data is progressively used to create knowledge and provide advice about production processes, and even to automate some activities for the marginalized ultra-poor farmer’s farms.  

Currently serving 100 women in the last one year

In next one year will be serving 3000 ultra poor women 

Access to technology and enhanced skills

Financials to employ a technical team, buy software and licenses to expand the platform, and also design an app / USSD.

Currently, we are being incubated by STAMP Clenatech ltd Kenya, where we get office space, computers, administrative support, and technical advisory. STAMP CLEANTECH is a Kenya social enterprises. 

Initially 

Will raise grants to continue building the platform, and run a wider pilot before scaling up.

Revenue Streams project in 1 year

• Registration fees ( premium)
• Commission on products being traded sales
• Franchise and licensing
• Businesses whose products will be distributed in the e-smart hubs
• Advertising space for manufacturers and service providers targeting community with children consumer goods and Commission on products sold
• Training and consultancy
• Administrative and training Fees charged to interns/ apprentices