Uganda - Business creation project

Describe your project or startup in a few words

Jessie Grocery is a project aimed at bridging the gap between consumers and farmers in consideration of even the small scale farmers. It aims at making farming a profitable business and giving value to consumers

01.01 Describe your project in more detail

My name is Serunjogi Danstan, and I'm the founder of Jessie Grocery, a platform connecting local farmers with consumers. Our platform ensures fresher produce for consumers, increased market access for farmers, and reduced waste. The demand for locally sourced produce is growing at 15% annually, with 75% of consumers willing to pay more for fresh, locally grown products.Our target audience is health-conscious consumers and environmentally aware individuals. We'll leverage social media, influencer marketing, and partnerships with local organizations to acquire customers. We generate revenue through a commission-based sales model, delivery fees, and potential subscription services." We mainly aim at lifting small and large scale farmers to earn a living since most farmers view the activity as a non profitable one due to the bias caused by intermediaries who want to benefit more than the farmers

01.02 What is the main problem you are trying to solve?

We are tackling the problem of market access and consumer's desire for fresh and directly sourced produce. We are expected to encourage formation of farmers groups and organizations. These groups are for the small scale farmers who don't have adequate land for their activities, we will market their small produce and enable them earn fairly from their businesses and this might restore their hopes in farming as a business. Farmers have resorted to dangerous activities like quarrying, brick making and charcoal burning and these tend to be dangerous to the environment. We are mainly trying to attract most farmers back into the activity.

01.03 Tell us the major benefits and/or advantages of using the product/service that your project intends to provide (at least 3).

1. Farmers will get a fair share from the market and also get interest in the business. This to be achieved by fairly pricing all the farm produce and limiting on the intermediaries who tend to under price farmers thereby reducing profitability by 50% 2. Consumers will get fresh directly sourced products from farmers and the project will be in position to dedicate harvest methods thereby controlling toxicity in the farm produce. 3. Farmers will form groups and organizations to share knowledge and experiences and also share market preference knowledge 4. Consumers won't have to download any apps their phones and instead use an existing app. And also consumers will get to enjoy shopping at comfort of their homes just at the finger tips

01.04 Please describe who exactly your project is aimed at serving. Who are the targeted beneficiaries?

The project is aimed at serving consumers one end and the include hotels, homes and other individuals who want fresh agriculture produce with low toxicity and those that need to monitor expenses on agriculture produce. Beneficiaries are the the small and large scale farmers who don't need to look for market for their produce and instead make communication on the available produce. The will get a fair share of the profits from farming.

01.05 When did you start working on your project?

2023-06-01

01.06 How many other partners are associated with your business venture?

1

01.07 Among the other partners, how many are female?

0

01.08 Please describe the profile of each of the other partners (skills, experience, etc.)

My other partner are information technology specialist with the technology but of the business They are just graduates

01.09 If you have a website, a social media page (Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin…), or app, please provide the link here:

01.10 Which industry best describes your project?

l) Agriculture

02.01.01 My project contributes to the No poverty goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.01.02 No poverty - Justification

The project restores farmers hopes in farming since the are getting a fair share of the market. Small scale farmers are more than the large scale farmers and in this project all are considered equally. Farmers will get ideas of the most profitable products and also get value for their time, sweat and money

02.02.01 My project contributes to the Zero hunger goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.02.02 Zero hunger - Justification

Since farmers' hopes are restored, most farmers will happily scale up their businesses thereby significantly increasing on the production of food as well as maximizing their respective incomes

02.03.01 My project contributes to the Good health and well-being goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.03.02 Good health and well-being - Justification

Most pesticides require a harvest after 14 days on spraying, but most farmers without supervision tend to harvest immediately after spraying. This puts the consumers' health at risk. We aim at advising and enforcing good harvesting habits to our suppliers. Farmers will share knowledge on organic fertilizers and pesticides to use in their gardens thereby reducing on use of chemicals

02.04.01 My project contributes to the Quality education goal

4

02.04.02 Quality education - Justification

02.05.01 My project contributes to the Gender equality goal

4

02.05.02 Gender equality - Justification

02.06.01 My project contributes to the Clean water and sanitation goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.06.02 Clean water and sanitation - Justification

We are working on reducing waste from produce that is left unconsumed due to poor storage facilities and underpricing

02.07.01 My project contributes to the Affordable and clean energy goal

3

02.07.02 Affordable and clean energy - Justification

02.08.01 My project contributes to the Decent work and economic growth

7 - Strongly Agree

02.08.02 Decent work and economic growth - Justification

Youths and women will have a fair ground in the farming business and also the project will provide different jobs to youths and women

02.09.01 My project contributes to the Industry innovation and infrastructure

7 - Strongly Agree

02.09.02 Industry innovation and infrastructure - Justification

The project will provide raw materials to small scale industries at fair price

02.10.01 My project contributes to the Reduced inequalities goal

5

02.10.02 Reduced inequalities - Justification

Women will have activities they can do to support themselves without being offended in anyway possible

02.11.01 My project contributes to the Sustainable cities and communities goal

4

02.11.02 Sustainable cities and communities - Justification

02.12.01 My project contributes to the Responsible consumption and production goal

4

02.12.02 Responsible consumption and production - Justification

Farmers will have knowledge on the quantities needed on the market given the statistics provided by the project and farmers will anticipate their production based on the statistics provided

02.13.01 My project contributes to the Climate action goal

5

02.13.02 Climate action - Justification

The project will attract people away from dangerous activities like quarrying and charcoal burning which pose a significant threat to the environment

02.14.01 My project contributes to the Life below water goal

4

02.14.02 Life below water - Justification

02.15.01 My project contributes to the Life on land goal

3

02.15.02 Life on land - Justification

02.16.01 My project contributes to the Peace justice and strong institutions goal

3

02.16.02 Peace justice and strong institutions - Justification

02.17.01 My project contributes to the Partnerships for the goal

4

02.17.02 Partnerships for the goal - Justification

05.01 There are a large number of customers who already use a product/service very similar to the product/service we envision creating.

7 - Strongly Agree

05.02 The product/service we envision creating represents an entirely new type of product/service.

5

05.03 The product/service we envision creating could be described as a new technology.

5

05.04 The product/service we envision creating is an improvement on an existing product or service.

4

05.05 The product/service we envision creating could be described as an extension of a range of products or services.

6

05.06 The product/service we envision creating responds to a demand or need that has not been satisfied by other products/services.

7 - Strongly Agree

05.07 The product/service we envision creating is a new version of an old product/service.

1 - Strongly Disagree

05.08 Justification

We're digitizing market access for farmers and adding technology to agriculture to give it a twist We are also using existing app and gently making modifications on our end not the consumers'

05.09 Who are your main potential competitors and what makes you stand out from them?

My main competitors are e-commerce stores that are in operation as of day today and some have a weakness of over pricing their products and delivering unsatisfying goods to customers My products are directly sourced from farmers while still fresh and delivering them to customers in a fresh state. I'm going to use WhatsApp which is easily accessible by every smartphone user and that means I'm eradicating the threat of malicious applications downloaded from the Internet. My customers won't have to download any malicious apps on their phones and instead will use an existing app embedded with the necessary software for transactions, tracking and placing of orders

10.06 Are you initiating actions within your community to promote the role of female entrepreneurs?

Not as of now