ACCESS TO MARKET FOR SMALL HOLDER FARMERS. Linda Kwamboka Co-Founder & Director MFARM Limited

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1 ACCESS TO MARKET FOR SMALL HOLDER FARMERS Linda Kwamboka Co-Founder & Director MFARM Limited

2 Team Linda Kwamboka Susan Oguya Jamila Abass

3 About Mfarm MFarm Ltd is an agribusiness focused software solutions company It has three main product lines aimed at improving efficiency and profitability for small holder farmers: 1. Linking farmers to buyers of fresh produce 2. Providing market price information 3. Facilitating group buying of farming inputs (future)

4 Reaping from the poor man's sweat September 27th 2010 The Standard A farmer is helped to pack potatoes into sacks. The potatoes are bought by middlemen who later sell them at almost triple the prices in other towns.

5 Small Holder Farmer Challenges What are they? Lack of information on wholesale market prices Low volume of production High input costs Poor post-harvest handling of produce Insufficient storage facilities Lack of understanding of wholesale market quality requirements High cost of transport

6 The Solution Sustainable aggregation model providing small holders with direct wholesale market access Mfarm manages aggregation and grading of small holder produce on behalf of the wholesale market Advance payment to farmers in cases of credit purchase by buyers

7 Market Situation Key Characteristics 79% of Kenya s population (about 30 million people) live rurally and rely on agriculture for income1 Estimated 17 million small holder farmers in Kenya2 Increasing quality, consistency and traceability demands from the wholesale market excluding small holder produce 1 IFAD.org 2 Mercycorps.org

8 Market situation Proof of Concept Inception Nov 10 Price information Launch(over 7000 farmers) June 11 Official Launch Of Group Selling June 12 1,800 farmers & USD 11,000 produce sales Feb 13

9 Market situation Proof of Concept Partnered with M-PESA Foundation 2014 Over 4,000 farmers & close to $250,000 sales Precision Agribusiness & Farmer mapping 2015

10 Market Trials Direct sales Contract farming Working with middle-men

11 Current Status Produce Buyers 4 Registered Farmers 746 Sorghum, Cassava, Groundnuts EABL, Afrinol Migori Passion fruit, Sweet potatoes EAG Eastern Embu 2 56 Avocado,Mangoes Kakuzi, Surreylane Central Kirinyaga 1 8 Kakuzi Central Nyandarua Avocados Snow peas, sugar snaps, garden peas, potatoes Central Nyeri 2 66 Snowpeas,Capsicum Rift Valley Nandi 2 27 Passion, Capsicum EAG, AAA Growers, Supermarkets Kenya Fresh Rift Valley Uasin Gishu Passion Fruit (via Elreco) Small Exporters Rift Valley Kitale 1 Under Research Maize Rift Valley Nakuru Eastern Tharaka 2 6,000 Potatoes Green Mung Beans, Red Kidney Beans, Cow peas Total 25 10,398 Province County No. of Agents Nyanza Homa Bay Nyanza Research ongoing in areas of high small holder farmer concentration EAG, AAA Growers Potato processors Packers, Exporters

12 Market situation Customer Acquisition Agents- Through farming community interactions, local MOA registries, local leaders i.e chiefs Farmer- agents are responsible for farmer recruitment Wholesaler/Buyer- marketing team and high management

13 Market situation Marketing channels M-Farm thrives due to maintaining social networks in the fields, through: Agents and their collection points Agricultural events such as the Agricultural shows Partnerships with farmer focused NGOs Partnerships with local Media houses e.g Radio Namlolwe in Nyanza region

14 Revenue Models Proof of Concept Contract sales Advertising Data sales diversified income streams: wholesale produce, corporate marketing clients, and data research clients

15 Pathway to Scale Unfair advantages Model: based on high credit grade wholesale consumers of produce Market interaction experience since 2011 Team: technical skills, partnership strategy Competitors: Not structured as technology focused agricultural trading companies Not directly participating in the value chain

16 Pathway to Scale Key Metrics MFARM Limited Key Metrics No. No. No. No. No. Total no. of agents Total number of farmers 9,000 24,000 51,180 91, ,420 Number of active farmers 2,000 4,800 15,354 27,396 43,326 Total Kgs. Harvested and Traded 29, , ,893 1,036,482 1,639,167 Cumulative forecast advertisers Total No. of data purchase companies Mfarm earns a commission of USD 0.12 per Kg that is sold by a farmer who transacts within its platform Mfarm charges an average of USD 412 per month per organization that would like to buy the market data it collects Mfarm charges an average of USD 180 per month per organization that would like to advertise to its farmers

17 Impact Improved Livelihoods Revolutionise the trading of fresh produce between SHF and wholesale market participants. oalleviation of Poverty for 4,000 small holder families ~6 members in a household oimproved farming practices. otransparent value chain. o

18 Investors & Supporters Created most successful agency model Respected brand Marketing and distribution support Venture Capitalist Impact investors Experience in emerging markets and startups for BOP TechforTrade UK charitable organization Supported M-Farm since 2012

19 Board of Advisors/Mentors KARI Established contacts Have Agricultural doctors as part of our board Fresh Produce exporters Saint Clara University

20 Parting Shots Information meant to empower farmers is good. But information ALONE is not enough to make the necessary CHANGE. At M-Farm, we go beyond information service and provide small scale farmers REAL market Entrepreneurs are a research extension, and challenges presented by researchers are opportunities for Entrepreneurs

21 Contact Linda Kwamboka Mfarm Bishop Magua Centre, Opposite Uchumi Hyper, Ng'ong Road P.O. Box , Nairobi, Kenya +254 (0) / linda@mfarm.co.ke

22 Thank You!