AGRI BRIDGE PROJECT.

According the International Monetary Fund report in 2001, rural poverty accounted for between 65 and 90 percent of poverty in sub- Saharan Africa. While these statistics have fairly changed over the past 20 years, Rural poverty is still a major problem in East Africa with the world's poorest country, Burundi found in East Africa. This has impacted conditions in terms of consumption and access to education, health care, portable water and sanitation, housing, transport, and communications. 

Despite all this, thousands of farmers plant and harvest crops each year. The majority of these being rural areas. Once harvested, this produce according to the FAO report in 2019 comes to a production quantity of about 190 million metric tons. This is either stored or processed but most of it is immediately sold off due to a lack of infrastructure to either store and/or process the produce. And even when present, many of the farmers can't afford to use this infrastructure and are therefore forced to quickly sell to avoid this produce from going bad. This forced sale has not given the farmers much option to negotiate for better prices leaving the biggest profits to go to middlemen.

So despite having the resources(produce) that could be used to bring or better livelihoods once sold, rural producers like small scale farmers continue to suffer in poverty.

AGRI BRIDGE is a project aimed at bringing equity and empowerment  to rural producers like farmers by giving them more options regarding pricing and value addition for their produce by bringing the markets to the farmers. We work closely with both rural producers like farmers and buyers to help both them make more informed decisions in getting the very best out of their ventures.

Working with the rural agro producers, we catalogue all the produce they have to determine, variety, quantities, locations, level of quality to set up. A data base of this information. We also work closely with numerous market players and traders in towns and cities to determine market locations for each produce variety, pricing and transportation requirements to get the produce to the required destinations. We then share this information with our rural producers to make more informed decisions regarding destinations on how to sale. This helps cut out middlemen to give more returns on investment for these rural producers thereby creating more financial security. 

Our solution serves rural agro producers. This is in any field of fishing, crop cultivation, animal husbandry, agro forestry to mention but a few. 

The aim of the project is to create sustainability by putting more money into rural economies using the resources already available and to the rural producers by increasing the returns from them. Improved rural economies attract more investments in these locations as it increases the customer base by increasing affordability of goods and services which rural individuals weren't originally able to afford. Rural producers can be more able to afford health, education and other services that were previously out of reach because of an inability to afford them. This in turn stirs infrastructure development to support the influx of investments creating a sustainable cycle using what the resources previously available to the individuals in these communities.

Our team is compromised of individuals from a diverse array of professions, all critical and fundamental to the project, amassing a combined experience of over 35 years in the fields of Entrepreneurship, Human centred design, project management, product development, International Relations, social work and public relations.Our Team Lead and project co-ordinators have actively been executing grass root projects in rural areas in the fields of health, education and Youth empowerment setting up networks which are already proving very advantageous to the project so far.

The AGRI BRIDGE Project, being in the pilot phase, is only serving 100 rural producers specifically farmers. Wanting to make sure the project serves and meets the required objective which is providing financial empowerment, inclusion and equity. We have worked with a small group of rural producers to not just highlight the potential of the project, but determine what weaknesses and challenges the project could have and how to mitigate them and streamline operations before enrolling the project out to a much bigger community base.

By applying, we hope to get partners that have access to expertise or resources that we don't have in-house. This could be in form of financial or logistical resources. This is going to substantially increase the project's capacity to reach more rural producers in terms of impact to more rural producers. With more resources, we hope to reach out to even more market avenues that can be consumers of even more produce from other rural producers like farmers.

Partnerships could also help avail access to new markets or customer segments that are presently out of reach for example markets outside of the East African region. Export markets generally bring in more revenue and have higher volume demand for produce than local markets which should reciprocate into more individual financial stability and entail even bigger production areas to benefit more rural farmers or producers.

Our solution aims to put more money into rural economies by adding value in form of money money for produce of rural producers. Many projects and programs aim at boosting fields such as new varieties, modern methods of agriculture, among others which don't address the main issue which is farmer or producer exploitation caused by the limited access to markets. This has limited progress for many rural producers like farmers which has in turn contributed to the high poverty levels in rural communities and regions.

Our solution targeting poor rural communities aims to extend and provide a market link and platform to these rural producers that would otherwise find it impossible to know information on current market conditions in terms of pricing, thereby making more informed decisions to  transport and sell their produce to urban markets. This aims to increase producer revenues through increasing yield returns up to 200% of what current returns by cutting out middlemen.

Increased producer revenues in rural areas provides improved ability to pay for other needs, goods and services originally challenging to afford for example food, quality education, investments/business diversification  to bring in revenue during cultivation off-seasons and amenities such as water and Electricity to mention but a few.

This reciprocates into more economical growth in these communities because of increased spending in these areas originally deemed simply unaffordable for example health, communication, financial institutions like banks. This is therefore going to open originally unviable areas to businesses that would otherwise not open up because of how poor the population previously was for example Financial institutions, schools, processing plants, infrastructure like roads, electricity, water, telecommunication to mention but a few.

In summary, our solution sets in motion sustainable community growth in other fields rather economic growth to other sectors like Health, education environmental, political and other social sectors using resources already existent in these communities as a driving force.

Using the success of the pilot phase, our goal is to move the project from the 100 rural farmers we have been working on to enrol it out to benefit up to 2,000,000 farmers.

We plan to provide financial literacy education to our beneficiary farmers to ensure that the increased financial empowerment is utilised ideally to improve livelihoods which is the goal of the project.

We also plan to set up an App within the next one year to help co-ordinate farmer and market information. This will include the quantity of crop present and available for sale, location, current market, market demand information, daily updated market prices, logistics information among others.

Our 5 year goal is to expand the project to all the East African countries we currently already have projects that is Rwanda,Burundi, Tanzania and Kenya. Set up a production and supply network throughout the region enrolling more farmers and producers and connecting them to markets originally inaccessible.

We also hope to expand our market base to export more produce within the next 5 years to tap into the global market which will in turn boost the returns for the rural farmers we shall to be working with. 

We plan on helping farmers producers set up co-operatives that can help them have better say and access in the quality of services they are receiving. This will also help them better organise themselves to set up value addition ventures like storage and processing plants that they originally were paying for or found unaffordable.

We also plan to on-board partners in the financial, logistics and value addition ventures such as processing plants sectors to help farmers boost their ventures to be able to make more from their ventures. 

Some of the specific indicators we are using and plan to use to measure the project's progress towards our impact goals include;-

1. Number of rural producers onboarded: This indicator measures the number of rural producers who have registered to our project. It can be a good indicator of the reach and adoption of your platform.

2. Volume of produce sold: This indicator measures the amount of produce sold through our project every yearly quarter. This gives a sense of the market demand for the produce being sold and the success of our project in connecting rural producers with buyers.

3. Income earned by rural producers: Here we measure the income earned from produce sold by rural producers who are using our project. It gives a sense of the impact that our project is having on the livelihoods of rural producers.

4. Reduction in food waste: This will measure the reduction in food waste in the supply chain as a result of our project. This is a measurement of the quantity of unsold produce due to spoiling or market shortage due to over production. This should provide a quantification of the sustainability of our project and its impact on the environment.

5. Customer satisfaction: This measures the satisfaction of buyers who are purchasing produce through our project and its platforms. It gives us a sense of the quality of the produce being sold and the overall user experience of our project and its platforms.

6. Cost savings for rural producers: This indicator measures the cost savings that rural producers are realising as a result of using your project. It can give you a sense of the economic benefits of your project with the help of co-operatives set up by our rural producers.

The theory of change for the AgriBridge project is as follows;-

By creating a platform that connects rural producers directly with buyers, the  AGRI Bridge project aims to increase the income of rural producers which in turn can reciprocate into other fields of life to be able to afford better services in other fields like health, education and basic needs which are vital in any local economy.

By cutting out middlemen, the AGRI Bridge project aims to reduce the cost of agricultural inputs for rural producers, thus increasing their profit margins.

By providing access to markets for their produce, the AGRI Bridge project aims to increase the number of rural producers who can earn a livelihood from farming.

By optimising the supply chain, the AGRI Bridge project aims to reduce food waste and increase the sustainability of the agricultural sector.

By improving the economic prospects of rural producers, the AGRI Bridge project aims to promote economic development and reduce poverty in rural areas.

At the moment, the AGRI Bridge project is currently using cloud computing and mobile technologies in our operations.Cloud computing provides scalability and flexibility needed to co-ordinate and connect big numbers of both rural producers within the project at a go without sacrificing performance.Mobile technology through Mobile devices are a powerful tool for connecting rural producers with markets and buyers. We hope to develop a mobile application within the next couple of months and to enable rural producers with access to internet to easily access and use the platform from their smartphones, even in areas with limited internet connectivity.

As we continue to scale up the project to reach more areas and continue to partner with stake holders that could streamline operations in the industry, we plan to adopt even more technologies to help make operations more effective. some of the new technologies we'll adopt into the project include;-

1. Blockchain: Blockchain technology will provide greater transparency and security in the supply chain, by enabling the tracking of products from farm to market. By using blockchain to track the movement of products, the AGRI Bridge project can ensure that products are authentic, sustainably sourced, and of high quality.

2. The Internet of Things (IoT) can be used to monitor and optimise the supply chain by providing real-time data on factors such as temperature, humidity, and location. By using IoT sensors to monitor shipments, the AGRI Bridge project can ensure that products are transported under optimal conditions, reducing the risk of spoilage or damage.

3. Artificial intelligence (AI): AI can be used to analyse data on market demand and supply, and to provide recommendations to rural producers on what crops to grow and when to harvest them. By using AI to provide insights and recommendations to rural producers, AGRI Bridge can help optimise the efficiency of the agricultural supply chain.

Our project's team consists of 57.1% women with individuals from different religious backgrounds. We also field co-ordinators hailing from the communities we work with to ensure that these communities have more involvement in the progress of the project. this therefore means that as the project expands to cover more regions and countries, the team is going to have individuals of diverse genders, nationalities and religious backgrounds working together to benefit an even bigger community base across the East African region.

We also want to set up a network platform to connect producers and buyers across the East African region countries. This will provide equal opportunities in form of market, information, and technologies will be provided to every individual irrespective of country as a way to improve Equity and Inclusivity.

Our business model is going to be a commission based business model. The commission will be off of the Urban area or regional market price contrary to what it is with middlemen who have a separate rural purchase price and a different urban urban selling price which ends up exploiting producers like farmers in these rural areas. Unlike the ordinary middlemen, we only want to take a commission that will ensure that will ensure that the farmers are not exploited and get to retain most of the profit.

We hope to scale it out to benefit more farmers and producers which will in turn bring in more commissions enough to not only run the project operational costs but also scale it out more to reach and benefit even more rural communities in different regions and countries.

We intend to only get 25% commission of each product sold off the market price at the time in the cities and regional markets. This will bring in between 50% to 200% more profit than what they currently get from their produce. This is aimed at helping producers like farmers generate more revenue from their produce to improve their livelihoods by reducing exploitation by middlemen.

The 25% commission off of each product sold is going to be used to meet the costs required to sustain the project and also scale it out to reach and impact other hard to reach rural areas so as to benefit as many individuals as possible and improve livelihoods. It's our plan to work with up to 2,000,000 rural farmers within the next one year.

All revenue obtained is provided from individual donations from individuals which though little has helped and manages to create a difference for these farmers.

Using an example of some farmers we are currently working with in Busunju, Mityana District, Uganda;- We are currently working with 20 farmers from this community. These are a part of a larger farmer base we have in Uganda.

The 20 farmers in Busunju are cassava farmers with an average production of 500kg of fresh cassava each harvest season for each farmer. Village price for a 50kg sack of farm fresh cassava is 100,000 Uganda shillings which corresponds to about $26.89. The market price for the same product of the same quantity goes for 200,000 Uganda shillings which corresponds to about $53.77. 500Kg of the same product brings in 500,000 Uganda shillings ($134.43) for farmers in this community and 1,000,000 Uganda shillings($268.86) when sold in Kampala which means that a rural farmer ordinarily lose up to $134.43. Less of the 25% commission, our farmer get $67.22 more than ordinary farmers.  Which brings the collective extra profit of $1,344.3 for the 20 farmers we are working with in this community.

So not only are we helping these 20 farmers get up 50% more of what they have been getting from their agricultural produce, the project generates $1,344.3 in revenue which can then used to run the project and expand it out to benefit even more farmers. This therefore confirms that our interests are as aligned with the farmers'.