Kenya - Business creation project

Décrivez votre projet en quelques mots

FarmHub provides personalized advisory support to farmers through a mobile app where they share photos or videos of a problem they are facing on the farm which is responded to by experienced extension officers. The app also has farming videos to educate.

01.01 Décrivez votre projet en détail

In Kenya and Africa at large, smallholder farmers face a myriad of challenges around productivity, market access and climate change. In Kenya, for example, farmers have highly limited access to extension officers with the current ratio at 1:1800 farmers, far below the recommended 1:400 by FAO. Moreover, there is low awareness and poor adoption of climate-smart farming and modern farming technologies greatly caused by low knowledge levels among farmers who have few training opportunities. To contribute to solving this interconnected problem of farmer productivity and embracing agribusiness, we are developing a mobile app called FarmHub. FarmHub is a mobile app that provides farmers with digital advisory services through a virtual extension support platform coupled with farming videos on climate-smart farming, affordable farming technologies and agribusiness lessons. With FarmHub, a farmer can ask questions by sharing photos and videos from the farm and they receive same-day responses.

01.02 Quel est le problème principal que vous essayez de résoudre ?

In Kenya and Africa at large, smallholder farmers face a myriad of challenges around productivity, market access and climate change. In Kenya, for example, farmers have highly limited access to extension officers with the current ratio at 1:1800 farmers, far below the recommended 1:400 by FAO. Moreover, there is low awareness and poor adoption of climate-smart farming and modern farming technologies greatly caused by low knowledge levels among farmers who have few training opportunities. Directly related to production is market access, where farmers are limited to selling their produce to local markets and traders who exploit them with low farm gate prices. These problems have made Kenyan and African farmers economically disempowered, with climate change worsening the situation. This is as the continent continues to be malnourished and food insecure.

01.03 Dites-nous quels sont les principaux avantages et/ou bénéfices de l'utilisation du produit/service que vous souhaitez fournir par votre projet (au moins 3).

1. We intend to recruit well-experienced, government-registered veterinary officers and agronomists who will remotely provide advisory services to farmers. This way, we build a platform that can quickly scale and reach millions of farmers who would otherwise not have a qualified extension officer within their reach. 2. Due to the economies of scale and job flexibility of the team of extension officers we will work with, this will enable us to provide advisory support to farmers at a much lower cost than what they have to pay currently when these advisors independently visit their farms. Many farmers are not able to access advisory services also because of the current consultation fees they charge which can be expensive. 3. With our model, one extension officer can serve up to 120 farmers in a day, which is not achievable with the current farm-to-farm visit model. Our model also greatly improves the extension- officer-to-farmer ratio from the current 1:1800 to 1:250.

01.04 Veuillez décrire précisément à qui s'adressera le produit/service de votre projet. Quels sont les bénéficiaires visés ?

We are targeting smallholder farmers in Kenya and later on in Africa. In Kenya, it is estimated that 6.4 million households are involved in agriculture. It is further estimated that at least 45% of smallholder farmers own smartphones representing over 3 million farmers, which is our addressable market in the mid-term. As smartphone ownership is growing at a faster rate than basic phones, this market is expanding year-on-year. In Africa, 33 million households are involved in smallholder farming. It is further estimated that 30% of these farmers own smartphones. This translates to 9.9 million farmers, which is our African addressable market. By the end of Year 1, we intend to serve at least 20,000 unique farmers monthly in Kenya handling around 75,000 advisory questions/month. By Year 5, we forecast to serve 500,000 unique farmers monthly across Africa handling around 750,000 questions/month.

01.05 Quand avez-vous commencé à travailler sur votre projet ?

09/05/2023

01.06 Combien y a-t-il de propriétaires sur votre projet en plus de vous ?

5

01.07 Parmi les autres propriétaires, combien sont des femmes ?

2

01.08 Veuillez décrire le profil des autres propriétaires de votre projet (compétences, expérience, etc.).

1. Kevin Wanambisi, Founder Entrepreneur & Founder with 8 years of experience in Agriculture sector Holds a BSc. in Project Planning & Management from Moi University. 2. Jackson Achila Team Lead, Extension Services & Veterinary Officer 15 years experience as an animal health expert. He holds a BSc. in Animal Science from Egerton University. 3. Edwin Muriithi, Lead Mobile App Developer Computer Science graduate from University of Nairobi. Graduate of Moringa School where he did Software Development and DevOps Engineering. 4. Lincy Cherono, Agronomist Holds an MSc. in Agronomy and a BSc. in Horticulture (First Class Honours), both from the University of Nairobi. 4 years of experience in horticulture and crop farming support to farmers. 5. Beatrice Wanjiru, Veterinary Officer Holds a BSc. in Agriculture from Chuka University. 5 years experience in dairy farming and poultry training. 6. Barack Wesonga, Agronomist Holds a BSc. in Food Security from Jaramogi Oginga & 7 years experience.

01.09 Si vous avez un site web, une page sur les médias sociaux (Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin...) ou une application, veuillez fournir le(s) lien(s) ici :

https://farmers-hub.co.ke/

01.10 Quel est le secteur d'activité qui décrit le mieux votre projet ?

l) Agriculture

02.01.01 Mon projet contribue à l'objectif 'Pas de pauvreté'

7 - Tout à fait d'accord

02.01.02 Justification de la contribution de mon projet

Through FarmHub, we're enabling smallholder farmers who cannot afford quality access to extension support to to get it at a much lower cost which will enable them realise more yields and consequently have more produce to sell thus earn more.

02.02.01 Mon projet contribue à l'objectif 'Faim Zéro'

7 - Tout à fait d'accord

02.02.02 Justification de la contribution de mon projet

Many smallholder farmers cannot produce enough food even for their own consumption. Through FarmHub, we will enable them to produce more food, and learn how to handle post-harvest losses so that they can feed themselves through the year.

02.03.01 Mon projet contribue à l'objectif 'Bonne Santé et Bien Être'

7 - Tout à fait d'accord

02.03.02 Justification de la contribution de mon projet

Many smallholder farmers are not well versed in the available variety of crops and livestock that they can plant and rear to provide complete and alternative sources of nutrients. Through our farming videos and advisory services farmers will get on FarmHub, they will diversify their farming activities and explore new food types that provide better nutrition.

02.04.01 Mon projet contribue à l'objectif 'Éducaiton de Qualité'

4

02.04.02 Justification de la contribution de mon projet

02.05.01 Mon projet contribue à l'objectif 'Égalité entre les Sexes'

7 - Tout à fait d'accord

02.05.02 Justification de la contribution de mon projet

The patriarchal system that characterises communities in Kenya makes it hard for women to engage productively in agriculture. The hoarders of knowledge and resources have traditionally been men, leaving the women majorly as providers of labour on the farm. FarmHub will be highly accessible and easy to use, providing a technology that millions of women can use on their own to equip themselves with climate-smart farming skills and agribusiness knowledge.

02.06.01 Mon projet contribue à l'objectif 'Eau Propre et Assainissement'

5

02.06.02 Justification de la contribution de mon projet

We will educate farmers on the proper use and disposal of pesticides which is contributing to the pollution of streams and rivers.

02.07.01 Mon projet contribue à l'objectif 'Énergie Propre et Abordable'

4

02.07.02 Justification de la contribution de mon projet

02.08.01 Mon projet contribue à l'objectif 'Travail Décent et Croissance Économique'

7 - Tout à fait d'accord

02.08.02 Justification de la contribution de mon projet

The majority of smallholder farmers in Kenya are stuck in outdated, unproductive and highly laborious farming practices that still give them low yields. Through FarmHub, these farmers will be able to learn modern farming techniques and affordable farming equipment and technologies that they can adopt to make their work less exhausting and more rewarding.

02.09.01 Mon projet contribue à l'objectif 'Industrie, Innovaiton et Infrastructure'

4

02.09.02 Justification de la contribution de mon projet

02.10.01 Mon projet contribue à l'objectif 'Réduction des Inégalités'

7 - Tout à fait d'accord

02.10.02 Justification de la contribution de mon projet

While medium-sized and large-scale farmers can afford access to dedicated and premium advisory support for their farming, smallholder farmers do not have the same opportunity. Through FarmHub, we will enable the smallholder farmers access high quality and continuous support for their day-to-day farming needs at a highly affordable, thus helping bridge the existing huge gap.

02.11.01 Mon projet contribue à l'objectif 'Villes et Communautés Durables'

4

02.11.02 Justification de la contribution de mon projet

02.12.01 Mon projet contribue à l'objectif 'Consommation et Production Responsable'

4

02.12.02 Justification de la contribution de mon projet

02.13.01 Mon projet contribue à l'objectif 'Luttle contre les Changements Climatiques'

7 - Tout à fait d'accord

02.13.02 Justification de la contribution de mon projet

Agriculture is one of the hardest-hit sectors of our society because of climate change. There is therefore a need to equip today's farmers with knowledge on climate change and what needs to be done to still produce more food while also also contributing to the fight against climate change. FarmHub is an ideal platform for this, through the farming videos we will share to the farmers and advisory support from the extension officers,

02.14.01 Mon projet contribue à l'objectif 'Vie Sous-Marine'

6

02.14.02 Justification de la contribution de mon projet

Pesticides if not used and disposed of correctly are a pollutant to water, air and soil. Through the farming videos on FarmHub, farmers will learn about this and reduce improper disposal of pesticides which end up in stream, rivers and eventually to larger water bodies.

02.15.01 Mon projetp contribue à l'objectif 'Vie Terrestre'

7 - Tout à fait d'accord

02.15.02 Justification de la contribution de mon projet

Through FarmHub, farmers will not only learn about better farming, but they will also learn the impotrance of protecting and restoring the ecosystems they farm in. They will also learn practical ways through videos that they can contribute in achieving this.

02.16.01 Mon projet contribue à l'objectif 'Paix, Justice et Institutions Efficaces'

4

02.16.02 Justification de la contribution de mon projet

02.17.01 Mon projet contribue à l'objectif 'Parteneriats pour la Réalisation des Objectifs'

4

02.17.02 Justification de la contribution de mon projet

05.01 Il existe un grand nombre de clients qui utilisent déjà un produit/service très similaire à celui que nous envisageons de créer.

1 - Pas du tout d'accord

05.02 Le produit/service que nous voulons créer représente un type de produit/service entièrement nouveau

7 - Tout à fait d'accord

05.03 Le produit/service que nous voulons créer pourrait être décrit comme une nouvelle technologie

7 - Tout à fait d'accord

05.04 Le produit/service que nous voulons créer est une amélioration d'un produit ou d'un service existant

7 - Tout à fait d'accord

05.05 Le produit/service que nous voulons créer pourrait être décrit comme une extension d'une gamme de produits ou de services

7 - Tout à fait d'accord

05.06 Le produit/service que nous voulons créer répond à une demande ou à un besoin qui n'a pas été satisfait par d'autres produits/services.

7 - Tout à fait d'accord

05.07 Le produit/service que nous voulons créer est une nouvelle version d'un ancien produit/service

7 - Tout à fait d'accord

05.08 Justification de mon projet

Currently, there exists no visual digital extension platform run by remote-based extension officers in Kenya that farmers can use. Other forms that exist are physical visits, group training SMS and telephone support. Farmers will be able to share photos and videos, which will enable more accurate diagnosis of the farmer's problems. We are thus developing a new technology and platform that can scale rapidly and able to provide high-quality support to farmers in minutes.

05.09 Qui sont vos principaux potentiels concurrents et qu'est-ce qui vous différencie d'eux ?

Our competitors include private practicing extension officers and organizations such as DigiCow, Shamba Shape-Up, Haller Farmers and KALRO.org. Currently, there exists no visual-based digital extension platform in Kenya like ours. Other forms that exist are SMS, telephone-based, and print. Visual advisory will provide a superior and more accurate diagnosis of farmers' diseases in crops and livestock, than what any other current platform or start-up provides.

10.06 Menez-vous des actions au sein de votre communauté pour promouvoir le rôle des femmes entrepreneurs ?

Not at the moment