Kenya - Business creation project

Describe your project or startup in a few words

Ecosokoni is a youth led Kenyan business idea focused on solving post harvest losses through provision of digital open markets for farmers as well as improvement of agriculture via an agricultural digital community and information access.

01.01 Describe your project in more detail

EcoSokoni (https://ecosokoni.co.ke) is a one stop farmers market where farmers can freely post their product and get connected to the market. The website and mobile application (ecoSokoni) are available for all users. It is open to farmers, green grocers popularly known in Kenya as mama kibanda, small- and large-scale suppliers and food vendors. Service providers like agronomists, vets and extension officers can also post their services and acquire clients. Our core is to connect and provide one community of not only farmers but all agricultural players. We have different major segments in the app to facilitate our objectives. We basically provide a free online community for players with a simple call of Farming for SDGs. We therefore offer buy and sell, farming tips, online agrovet, a service corner and our own shop. Farmers and players can access free information, services and even hire personnel as well as get advice from different players to maximise their agriculture.

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

Post-harvest losses- Can be defined as the food losses across the food chain from harvesting till consumption. The losses can be broadly categorized as weight losses due to spoilage, quality loss, nutritional loss, seed viability and commercial loss. Reducing post-harvest losses especially in developing countries could be a sustainable solution to increase food availability, reduce pressure on natural resources, eliminate hunger, improve farmers livelihood as well as create employment. In Kenya, it is estimated 30-40% of crops are lost post-harvest. All this weight is lost despite 3.5million Kenyans facing starvation as at May 2022. Most of these losses are due logistical challenges to markets, poor food handling, poor storage and sanitation and also food safety standards not feasible to small scale farmers. Reducing post-harvest losses in developing and developed countries is therefore important in solving food insecurity, empowering farmers, and fighting poverty.

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. Buy and sell section freely. Sellers mostly farmers, grocers, minimarts and supermarkets can post and get buyers for their products. Buyers can easily peruse, check the products of their choice and choose according to regions and preferences. This offers the best markets rate, eliminate brokers and offers seamless service. 2. Free Farm tips section to increase yields. Through research for different regions and crops and from our experts, we offer farmers different farming tips and accepted farming methods like recommended seeds, chemicals and spraying technics to increase their yields and provide maximum land usage. Storage, value addition, post harvest care and other important farming technics 3. Connection to different players therefore easy access to services, tips, motivation, inputs, chemicals and ideas. Ecosokoni offers digital community for seamless farmers interaction. This makes farmers increase their experience first hand and learn from fellow farmers in real time.

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

1 Farmers Through our website, https//ecosokoni.co.ke and our mobile application, ecoSokoni, farmers will be linked directly to the market. They will be able to post their products and directly get clients or referrals from our website. Through this, they will manage to talk directly to clients therefore eliminating middlemen who have been manipulating prices and making farmers sell at the lowest prices. Our farming tips section in the app will assist farmers in learning new farming technics, get preservation and other farming and after harvest tips to assist them in their day to day activities in the farm and beyond Consumers By connecting consumers directly to farmers, our consumers are assured of the freshest products available and at the best price. With few hands crossed by the products, they are also assured of absolute freshness and very healthy products Grocers, processors and supermarkets. They will have free access to the broader market and supplier to get their products

01.05 When did you start working on your project?

2022-12-26

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

3

01.07 Among the other partners, how many are female?

2

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

Vonnies Ombiro Onkoba- Degree in agriculture from the University of Nairobi with major focus on Plant Health and pests and diseases prevention. Five years experience in agronomy with focus on pests and disease prevention, production maximisation, post harvest losses and markets acquisition. Beatrice Muthoni- Degree in Economics. Have attended numerous trainings on sustainable agriculture and community development. She has worked in different accounting firms and also freelanced different accounting projects for the last three years Faith Wairimu- Business administration and accounting graduate with three years experience on the same. Helps us with book keeping and accounting as well as business development. She also acts as our liason and sales rep for the company

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

https://www.facebook.com/share/1eXgdGzDLt67KAmA/?mibextid=qi2Omg

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

Our idea focuses on rural farmers, both learned and those with minimal to no education. By helping them commercialize their small pieces of land and undertake agriculture as an economic activity, we will not only create a reliable job opportunities and ventures, but also help them have reliable sources of income. Through agriculture, they will get source of money for sustenance and family. They will also be able to learn better farming technics and transfer the same skills to their people or kins. This will increase their production and be a great source of livelihood. We also expect to fully incorporate unemployed youths and women in our farming ventures and value addition work to help them with employment. We plan to incorporate atleast 50,000 farmers who as at now have no stable source of livelihood into commercial agriculture and therefore improve their lives. With an assured source of income via commercial farming, we will combat poverty in rural areas.

02.02.01 My project contributes to the Zero hunger goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.02.02 Zero hunger - Justification

One of the proven ways to achieve zero hunger is to produce more, distribute better and maximise the available resources. Our core aim is to increase crop production and quality among our farmers. With more production and lower losses, our people will have more to feed on and even extra to sell. We are also focused on training our farmers on smart farming technologies, this will help even regions which have been having difficulties in production due to extreme climatic conditions will be able to learn ways to cope and produce crops. Since lower knowledge has been a challenge to most farmers, our farm tip will assist many small and large scale farmers increase their production, fight pests and diseases and learn agronomy. We are therefore going to fight hunger by increasing production by using modern affordable means, reducing post harvest losses and offering farmers a source of livelihood. We will also offer farming assistance such as agronomy and information such as climate to farmer

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

Through sustainable, climate smart, organic and safe agricultural methods, we focus on environment and health conscious production. We encourage farmers to desist from using harmful pest control methods, environmentally harmful methods as well as producing unhealthy crops. We also help them with health benefits crops to intercrop with their crops to help them improve on their health benefits. With our YouTube channels and blogs, we help farmers learn of different nutritional values of some crops as well as dietary importance of different eating habits and best crops to plant. We are also advocates of organic farming and have currently working on demo farm for the same to help teach about healthy farming and organic agriculture

02.04.01 My project contributes to the Quality education goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.04.02 Quality education - Justification

Education is one of the most important gift to this generation and generations to come. As ecosokoni, our main focus is agricultural knowledge and education. We offer well researched farm tips from different verified agricultural consultants, players and agronomists. Our farm tips helps the people and small scale farmers improve on their production. We currently have educative plartforms on our app, youtube and through our social media platfoms. On top of the farming knowledge, we are the greatest advocates of education to our farmers children. We are focused on encouraging them to take their kids to school ,pay fees and by helping alleviate them from poverty, we are assured that they will easily manage to educate their children.

02.05.01 My project contributes to the Gender equality goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.05.02 Gender equality - Justification

Currently, we have Two women and Three men in our management positions. On top of that, we are equal opportunities providers. We have currently incorporated around one hundred women in our projects in order to help them be brand ambassadors of sustainable agricultural production. We will train them as agronomists, field officers, lead farmers and general farmers. We are currently seeking women CBOs and groups to help them with this initiative and incorporate them into our projects as well as train them on agricultural production. We aim to hire around 20,000 women farmers as well as further train 5,000 on value addition and crop management and post harvest solutions.

02.06.01 My project contributes to the Clean water and sanitation goal

4

02.06.02 Clean water and sanitation - Justification

02.07.01 My project contributes to the Affordable and clean energy goal

5

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

Agriculture is a major source of employment and economic growth either through self employment and paid employment. While offering our farmers a means to create revenue and employment through decent work, we will also highly focus on safety and occupational wellbeing of our people. Our farmers will ofcourse get good employment opportunities, improve their access to justified remuneration for their work and therefore appreciate their efforts. This will subsequently increase their earnings and improve the economy of their areas too. Sale of the produce will also go a long way in improving the national economy too. We will also strictly follow the rules of the land when we have employees. Employment acts and occupational safety will be our core guidelines as we strive to build an economic sustainable society.

02.09.01 My project contributes to the Industry innovation and infrastructure

7 - Strongly Agree

02.09.02 Industry innovation and infrastructure - Justification

Our idea is very innovative, using IoT to solve agricultural challenges in Kenya and beyond is a great venture. We will allow affordable, sustainable use of internet to connect farmers into a community of agricultural players. We are also focused on using geospatial technology, AI engineered solutions and smart farming technology to improve farming through pests and diseases detection and prevention, We will also train farmers on the use of technology on planting, crop management and value addition. We are currently working on incorporation of AI for soil tests and market research to improve our farmers experience.

02.10.01 My project contributes to the Reduced inequalities goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.10.02 Reduced inequalities - Justification

Women, girls and youths form one of the biggest disadvantages group in Kenya. Massive unemployment, poverty and low access to opportunities have lowered their economic growth. Our idea focusses on creating jobs for both, training them on economic independence and giving them an opportunity to showcase their abilities. Through policies and company criteria, we will work with youth groups, CBOs, women groups and people with disabilities to offer them chances to improve their lives and therefore promote equality in their regions and workplaces through agriculture. We have currently incorporated around 100 women

02.11.01 My project contributes to the Sustainable cities and communities goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.11.02 Sustainable cities and communities - Justification

Ecosokoni will offer sustainable cities and community through initiatives which promote food security and sustainable livelihood through agriculture. Through empowering small-scale farmers through access to markets, fair trade, and financial services and encouraging local food production reduces dependence on imports, strengthens local economies, and reduces the carbon footprint associated with transportation, economic viability of the local communities will be upheld. Developing resilient and smart farming like resistant crop varieties that are resistant to climate extremes and pests can help ensure food production in the face of changing climate conditions. Economic, social and communal upgrade will create sustainability in our society. Those living in cities will also be able to buy straight from our farmers, access fresh food, learn some farming methods like agroponic agriculture for their survival as well as increase their income through agriculture.

02.12.01 My project contributes to the Responsible consumption and production goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.12.02 Responsible consumption and production - Justification

Our business focusses on responsible, sustainable and profitable production in agriculture, Through scientific and modern production methods as well as post harvest handling, we are going to help our farmers, sellers and end producers achieve responsible production. Through climate smart farming, climate sensitive agriculture, value addition and responsible consumption with zero wastages, we will achieve the above agenda. We will also focus on agroforestry to help conserve the environment and water sources, manage water usage in production, manage pests and diseases responsibly and manage soil through minimum disturbances and organic fertilisers

02.13.01 My project contributes to the Climate action goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.13.02 Climate action - Justification

One first focus as an entity is climate smart farming to our farmers. We have encourages and incorporated climate smart technics like minimal soil disturbance, organic farming, climate resistant crops and water management technics in our ventures. We are encouraging our farmers to move to climate resistant crops like millet and sorghum, apply climate and scientific farming technics as well as intercrop to fight climate change. We are currently advising our farmers to plant trees and intercrop with trees like tamarind, leuecena, acaia and cassia to conserve the environment, maintain the soil and air quality and reduce carbon imprints. On top of that, we are also trying to venture into energy management and sustainable power source for our ventures like solar and biogas to help farmers with power for their farming works. Ecosokoni is also on the forefront of climate action through information sharing, trainings and actionable goals on the same.

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

7 - Strongly Agree

02.15.02 Life on land - Justification

In order to improve the health of soil, reduce climate change and restore biodiversity, we train all our contracted smallholder farmers on integrated soil and pets management whose goal is to efficiently control pest populations, lessen the dangers and harm caused by pests and promote ecologically friendly and sustainable pest management techniques. Our farming technics like minimal soil disturbance helps retain soil health and nutrients, build soil nutrients and retail moisture as well. We will also focus on using organic fertilizers and mulching to reduce soil degradation On top of those, we are focused on combating climate change through ways such as using tree planting and intercropping. We are working with seedlings propagators where we get seedlings and supply to our farmers with seedlings for agroforestry to increase tree cover help combat climate change.

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

4

02.16.02 Peace justice and strong institutions - Justification

02.17.01 My project contributes to the Partnerships for the goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.17.02 Partnerships for the goal - Justification

Sustainable development is a team projects goal. For success of our projects, we require different team players to come together for realization of our dream. Most partners we require are farmers, crops and pesticides companies, agronomists, weather people, trainers, financiers, value additions, exporters and consumers. We hope to make all the required partnerships on this course to build a network of like minded individual for the realization of our idea. We also wish to partner with different government agencies, NGOs, CBOs and other community projects personnel and form a formidable team for knowledge sharing, personnel acquisition and resource mobilization

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

3

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.

2

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.

5

05.08 Justification

Ecosokoni is innovative in such it provides simple, fast, reliable and faster way for farmers to solve their problems such as post harvest losses, low access to information and low market access. Our idea is totally farmer centered and is build with an average, small scale rural farmer in mind. We on top offer one stop service for all farmers needs and therefore by just owning a smart phone and our service numbers, the farmer is totally sorted in his farming venture. We also incorporate new ideas in IoT, AI, Climate detection, information dissipation and pests and diseases intervention to promote agriculture among our farmers. An incorporation of the same in one platform gives farmers seamless information and service provision and therefore makes our idea innovative.

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

Some of our current competitors are traditional players like groceries sellers, supermarkets and few digital apps. While they offer markets, they operate on the end of the value chain, therefore never care about welfare of farmers. They also manipulate price for maximum profits. Our idea offers the farmer maximum information to help him grow better, produce more and then subsequently offer markets. We walk with the farmer all the way then give them a better price for their produce. Ecosokoni also helps in other activities like trainings, climate mitigation and CSRs to manage the welfare of the farmers.

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

Yes, we are currently promoting women farmers in the following areas Recruitment, Training and contracting of 850 women farmers owning less than 2 acres of land into commercial farming in parts of Kenya. Establishment of business support groups and the formation of common interest farming comprising of almost 100 female farmers per cluster. Working with women CBOs to identify potential areas of collaboration in agriculture Our management has two women. This helps them grow, learn more in business and act as representation and motivation to other women Encouraging women to take up farming jobs like agronomy, greenhouses and irrigation set up, value addition and other farming opportunities