March 26, 2023
Why small-scale farmers are failing: The problems with all agricultural stakeholders holding back these smallholder farmers
We left the City with a heavy heart went back to the village, dreading the long journey ahead. While in the village working with smallholder farmers, agronomists and agro input dealers brought home the harsh reality of the situation: Small Scale Farmers in Africa are not getting the support they need due to a flawed local agronomy and agro dealer distribution system and an unfriendly agricultural Supply Chain, which leads to low productivity, poor quality produce, unsustainable production and food wastage. Furthermore, there isn't any proper food systems to track quality and data about smallholder farmers. The government is facing the same challenge. Most of the data about farmers from Africa is based on guesses and inaccurate estimations, making the situation even worse. Because of our mistakes and challenges faced, we came back stronger with a SaaS based Digital Agriculture and Farm ERP platform to manage farmers, farming activities and control complex farm operations, make data-driven decisions, optimize cost, improve yields based on real-time insights and advanced field analytics from planning to harvest designed for Individual Farmers, Commercial Farmers, Extension officers, Cooperatives, Agro dealers, Manufacturers, Traders and all other agricultural stakeholders.
EXTENSION OFFICERS
It was a painful lesson, but we realized that registeringrnfarmers alone is not enough. To make a real difference in the lives of farmers,rnwe must invest in improving the performance of all stakeholders who work withrnand serve farmers, including extension officers. We came back 10 times strongerrnbecause we learned our lesson that, we cannotrnexpect to increase crop production and improve the lives of farmers withoutrnfirst improving the performance of extension officers. Extension officer is ourrnfirst partner on our innovation.
Extension officers play a vital role in managing farmers andrnend to end farm activities, and their work involves many activities. But howrncan we empower them to manage farmers scientifically? That's where MazaoHubrnFarm ERP comes in. We believe that providing extension officers with anrnagronomy management software system can optimize their work and enable them tornmake data-driven decisions in real-time.
For instance, the MazaoHub Farm ERP platform can helprnextension officers with farmers plan all the way from land preparation tornharvest and then monitor end to end farm activities from land preparation tornharvest to movement of crops including soil nutrients, provide pest and diseaserncontrol measures, and determine the best planting methods. By equippingrnextension officers with this platform, we can help them manage each farmer'srnagriculture scientifically, improving the overall performance of small-scalernfarmers.
COOPERATIVES
Another crucial partner and user of the MazaoHub Farm ERPrnsystem is cooperative societies thatrnwork with smallholder farmers. Unfortunately, we hear too often of corruptrnpractices, complaints from farmers, and loss of money. We cannot entirely blamernthe cooperative society leaders for these problems. Most of them are stillrnoperating manually, which is a significant challenge when serving a largernnumber of farmers.
Imagine trying to manage the production of 80,000 farmersrnmanually, knowing their yields, and managing the distribution of inputs andrnloans without a digital system. It's a nearly impossible task. Additionally,rncoordinating the movement of crops from farms to collection centers,rnwarehouses, and markets is also extremely difficult without a system that canrnhandle such operations.
To achieve results and improve the livelihoods ofrnsmall-scale farmers, we must invest in improving the working environment forrncooperative societies. By providing them with a digital system to manage theirrninternal operations, production, extension officers, input distribution, andrnglobal markets, we can significantly improve the operations of these societiesrnand increase the transparency and accountability of their activities.
With the MazaoHub Farm ERP system, cooperative societies canrnhave a centralized platform to manage all their operations, including trackingrnfarmer yields, managing the distribution of inputs, and monitoring the movementrnof crops from farms to markets. This digital system can also facilitate morernefficient lending practices, reducing the risk of corruption and financialrnloss.
WAREHOUSES AND MILLERS
In addition to extension officers and cooperative societies,rnMazaoHub also has other important partners and users: millers and owners ofrnwarehouses. These individuals face unique challenges when it comes to servingrnfarmers, and unfortunately, many of these challenges stem from operatingrnwithout a digital system.
For example, millers and warehouse owners often lend moneyrnto farmers so that they can do business with them during harvest season. Thisrnlending process is critical for farmers, as it allows them to invest in theirrncrops and increase their yields. However, without a digital system, thisrnlending process can be inefficient, inaccurate, and even corrupt.
Moreover, farmers are the biggest customers of these millersrnand warehouse owners, who store their harvest in their warehouses and processrntheir crops. Yet, many of these operations are still done manually, leading tornsignificant inefficiencies and errors.
Without the right tools and technology, it is difficult forrnthese millers and warehouse owners to serve small farmers effectively andrnchange their lives. That is why the MazaoHub Farm ERP system is so crucial. Byrnproviding a digital platform for these partners to manage their operations,rnthey can improve their lending practices, streamline their warehousing andrnprocessing activities, and ultimately better serve their farmer customers
MazaoHub Farm ERP also works with Agro dealers, who play arncrucial role in providing agricultural inputs to smallholder farmers.rnUnfortunately, most of Agro dealers sell agricultural inputs just like generalrnshops or more like street hawkers, with one focus to sell more and more withoutrnconsidering the impact on the farmers they serve. And more than that theirrnoperation activities are entirely manual, and they lack a system for managingrntheir farmers and selling inputs as a service. This lack of organization andrnstructure results in a detrimental impact on smallholder farmers' lives.
Recently, we had MazaoHub Farm ERP team implementing Agrorndealer service software to agro dealers, while taking counts of inventories torndigitize their operations, we discovered many surprising things. For instance,rna farmer may come to agro dealer shop and request NINJA INSECTICIDE becausernanother farmer recommended it to him. The farmer purchases NINJA and applies itrnto his farm without considering its dosage or soil type, even though he hadrnused KUNG FU INSECTICIDE on the same soil before but in higher dosage. Thernfarmer uses NINJA solely because he was advised to do so by another farmer,rneven though NINJA has no different function from KUNG FU, leading to therndestruction of the crops.
This is the problem when agro dealers lack a history of arnfarmer's input use, and all they know is to sell. Imagine if they had a systemrnthat allowed them to check a farmer's input history before selling themrnanything. For example, before selling inputs to a farmer, they could firstrncheck the system to see what fertilizer the farmer used the last time and therncondition of their soil, among other things. The absence of such a system is arnroot cause of climate change and farmers' haphazard practices.
As MazaoHub, we are disrupting agro dealer distributionrnsystem by transforming ordinary inputrnstores into farmer support centers in Swahili KLINIKI ZA KILIMO by providing themrnwith a system that allows them to manage their farmers and know the productionrnhistory of each farmer, the history of input use, and a system for managingrninput sales with automated accounting reports based on accounting reportingrnstandards. With this, they can invest more and serve farmers with quality,rnthereby improving the lives of smallholder farmers.
At MazaoHub, we deeply understand the value of every singlernagricultural stakeholder mentioned above. We know that farmers are the heart ofrnour industry, but we also recognize that they cannot succeed alone. That's whyrnwe're proud to work alongside a diverse range of partners, each of whom plays arncrucial role in supporting farmers and promoting sustainable agriculture.
Without forgetting other important partners, our off-takerrnpartners. These are the buyers who purchase farmers' products, whether it'srnfresh produce, grains, or other crops. Without off-takers, farmers wouldrnstruggle to find a market for their goods, and their hard work would go tornwaste. That's why we've made sure to incorporate off-takers into the MazaoHubrnFarm ERP, providing them with a seamless platform to connect with farmers andrnmake deals that benefit everyone.
We also work closelyrnwith agricultural boards, who oversee the production and distribution ofrnspecific crops. These boards play a critical role in ensuring that farmers havernthe resources and support they need to succeed. By incorporating their systemsrninto the MazaoHub Farm ERP, we're able to streamline communication and create arnmore efficient, collaborative agricultural ecosystem.
Of course, we also recognize the importance of financialrnpartners like banks and insurance providers. These institutions help farmersrnaccess the funding and protection they need to take risks and invest in theirrnoperations. That's why we've provided them with their own dedicated systemsrnwithin the MazaoHub Farm ERP, making it easier than ever for farmers to get thernsupport they need to thrive.
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At the end of the day, our mission is simple: tornrevolutionize agriculture by investing in every stakeholder in agriculture sectorrnincluding development agencies, big or small. Because we know that Smartrnagriculture starts with MazaoHub, but it takes a village to make it thrive.