There is a pervasive idea among youth populations that farming is a domain for “old people” and an “unprofitable venture.” However, due to the rapid proliferation of agricultural technologies (AgTech), the agriculture sector is now viewed as a “cool” venture, providing many opportunities along the food value chain. A majority of these agtech ventures are youth-led, largely boosted by increased access to smartphones and higher internet penetration in Africa.
These agtech ventures are solving food system challenges by enhancing efficiency in the value chain. Using artificial intelligence, farmers can monitor soil and control pests in their farms, while traceability technologies have enhanced food safety across the supply chain and digital logistics enables tracking the movement of goods. With e-commerce platforms, farmers can sell and purchase products seamlessly. In some instances, all these technologies are embedded into one platform, enabling users to access all services under one roof.
About Kilimo BaNDO
Having witnessed some of the challenges faced by farmers, like low productivity, poor farming technologies, changing weather patterns, inadequate access to financial services, market uncertainty, and logistical bottlenecks, Rahim Hamza Shoo, the co-founder of Tanzania-based startup Kilimo BaNDO, developed an innovative digital platform. Kilimo BaNDO links farmers to financial services, markets, and access to farm management solutions.
Kilimo BaNDO acts as a “one stop shop” for agri-services by facilitating access to financial services and farm management practices, such as farm preparation, extension services, weather forecasting, input distribution, post-harvest services, and market linkages. All these services are embedded on one platform with its other key products comprising Kilimo Akiba, Kilimo Mkopo, and Kilimo Bora.
What is Kilimo Akiba?
[Kilimo Akiba-agricultural savings, Kilimo Mkopo-agriculture loans, Kilimo Bora-better farming)
“Kilimo Akiba” is a swahili word meaning agricultural savings, the platform enables farmers to save money and invest in their farms. “Kilimo Mkopo,” another Swahili saying for agricultural loans, allows farmers to build their profile by filling in specific questions related to their farm productivity. This then helps generate a credit score for financial institutions, to determine if they are eligible for credit or insurance services. “Kilimo Mkopo” platform provides farmers with access to affordable agricultural microcredit services, which are repaid in small monthly payments with an interest, while the principal is recovered from harvest proceeds. Lastly, “Kilimo Bora,” meaning better farming, offers accurate and reliable information on weather updates, early disease detection, farming tips, best practices, and market prices.
The platform currently has over 3 million smallholder farmers registered and receiving access to agricultural services. Kilimo BaNDO has facilitated over 345,000 tons of input delivery to over 900,000 smallholder farmers, and is currently supporting over 1,800 Agri-SMEs in input delivery. Over 35,000 smallholder farmers have also benefited from financial services, such as savings and micro-credit, helping them to invest in their farms and improve their livelihoods.
The startup has also partnered with selected trained agronomists to provide training on farming and post-harvest management, reducing post-harvest losses, and improving income for smallholder farmers and SMEs.
Benefits
Kilimo BaNDO guarantees markets for SMEs, extension services, and access to inputs while assuring financial institutions of loan recovery. As a result, this has led to improved livelihoods for smallholder farmers and enhanced sustainability in the sector.
Challenges
The team has partnered with the Ministry of Agriculture in Tanzania to reach more farmers in rural areas. However, due to the high costs associated with reaching a vast population and limited network coverage in rural areas, the uptake on Kilimo BaNDO is limited. As a result, the startup developed an offline android application to reach farmers in areas without network coverage.
To control side-selling, a situation whereby farmers do not abide by the contractual agreement, the startup is streamlining its services to introduce a warehouse receipt system. This will enhance transparency and trust amongst farmers and financial institutions with an aim of increasing loan recovery rates.
Agtech ventures have provided immense opportunities in the sector by improving land productivity, enhancing supply chains, reduced risks, and low costs. In spite of these gains, there is a need to increase dissemination of agtechs to farmers, bolster internet access in rural areas, and create an enabling policy environment that promotes the scale up of these technologies.
