1. Muteshi, K. Hilda

ABSTRACT

Food security is a key pillar to achieving sustainable development goals and the other three pillars outlined in the Big Four Agenda. Eradicating poverty and hunger as well as improving health and wellbeing depends largely on the success of agricultural marketing.  The current global warming and climate change has caused widespread unpredictability in the demand and supply of agricultural produce. Most farmers lack access to market information about demand, supply and appropriate pricing. This has increased losses for perishable e produce and high costs of storage for nonperishables. The agricultural value chain is too long, with several middlemen, which robs the farmer a fortune. The purpose of this paper was to conduct an action research on how technology can be used to connect farmers to the market, provide them with information on demand, supply, pricing and link producers directly to consumers. The researchers adopted a secondary data method and market intelligence to review challenges in the agricultural market and existing technological marketing platforms including social media and models an open market place solution to bridge the market gap. This review led to the development of a technological innovation that links a seller to a buyer through an Android Mobile phone application referred to as SokoBora. The core role of SokoBora is to link sellers with the buyers with the aim of minimizing the cost of transport through matching the nearest buyer to the nearest seller by region, revealing demand and reducing wastage caused by slow demand, consolidating data on demand and supply of products by region, and opening up external markets to farmers. In this paper, we explore how this application can connect farmers to the market through an automated system, and the relevant countrywide reports that can be generated to guide agricultural production and supply that matches the demand by region. This application can be accessed via the link below

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=susafric.com.sokobora

Keywords:     Food security, Agricultural Marketing, Technology, Customer Relationship Management, Automation, Market Access, Farmers, Agricultural Produce, Big Four Agenda, Sustainable Development goals

1.0 Background

1.1 Food security and sustainable development

A country is food secure when its citizens are able to obtain sufficient food on a day to day basis (USAID, 2011).  According to the food security framework, food availability and access mediates food utilization. Availability in this context refers to food from households own farm, local market or international market while utilization depends on access (ability to purchase). Food availability remains a key function of domestic and international food markets, this relies on functional agricultural markets, infrastructure, and government policy. Food accessibility is affected by household’s ability to produce or purchase food. Food supply in turn affect the prices  (USAID, 2011).

The global agenda 2030 on sustainable development goals, puts food availability and accessibility at the center of ending hunger, malnutrition (SDG Target 2.1) and improving general health indicators. Globally, 820 million people suffer from acute hunger, while 2 billion people moderately lack access to sufficient food. Lack of food has led to malnutrition and poor health. Fifty three(53)  countries currently face acute hunger, the following countries required urgent food need in 2018 (Yemen, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, the Syrian Arab Republic, the Sudan, South Sudan and northern Nigeria) (Food Security Information Network (FSIN), 2019). Despite the fact that 8% of the population in Europe and northern America is affected, the low income and middle income countries are the most hit by food insecurity (FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, 2019).

Kenya is one of the countries that is not food secure, despite food security being one of the Big4 agenda and the countries commitment to vision 2030 in line with sustainable development goals, Kenya still depends on imports for food security. With increased climate change, agricultural productivity is unpredictable, there is constant sudden shifts in the way food is distributed and consumed locally and globally, the demand and supply is not predictable (FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, 2019). The agricultural market is facing challenges both at local, country and international level the sector continues to face several constraints at the global, regional and national level that require special attention (Karani & Wanjohi, 2017).

2.0 The current agricultural market ecosystem

2.1 key players in the agricultural market

Figure 1 market linkages from local farmers to global market

The Agricultural market is dominated by small holder farmers and micro small medium size enterprises (MSMEs). Nyoro (2009), indicated that, small scale farmers are the backbone of agriculture and the economy of Kenya, they account for 89% of the food produced (Karani & Wanjohi, 2017). They lack adequate business premises that can hold great volumes of agricultural produce. They also lack storage facilities for perishable produce. The poor infrastructure in rural areas still hampers effective trade in agriculture. There is need for improving cross border agricultural trading in order to enhance food security (KIPRRA, 2017). Agricultural brokers, traders and middlemen play a key role in in connecting small scale farmers to the market both locally, regionally and internationally. This group provides capital, storage facilities and knowledge to small scale farmers in developing countries. This sector suffers constraints and farmers believe that middlemen deprive them a fortune by offering lower prices for their produce (Karani & Wanjohi, 2017).

The deficit in the food basket continues to increase since the year 2012. The food deficit in Kenya cuts across all categories, the food shortage can be attributed to climate change that has made rain fed agriculture harvest unpredictable, and post-harvest loses. Lack of storage facilities for farm produce (KIPRRA, 2017). As the country seeks to increase food security through irrigation, diversification in exports is key, including value addition and agricultural processing in order to minimize food wastage (Gitonga-karuoro, Gitonga-karuoro, & Shibia, 2018).

2.2 Agricultural Market Access Challenge

The poor infrastructure in rural areas still hampers effective trade in agriculture. There is need for improving cross border agricultural trading in order to enhance food security (KIPRRA, 2017). Accessing local, national and global markets requires farmers to meet specific market standards, Small scale farmers in developing countries lack information on market economies, demand, supply, which hinders them in competing the evolving global markets.  There is a higher return on investment when farmers sell direct to the exporters, wholesalers, supermarkets, however, they must grow through intermediaries.  Enhancing partnerships between farmers and private sector is one of the ways to link them to the market.  (Rola-rubzen & Hardaker, 2015)

The rural population still engages in marketing of agricultural produce for a livelihood. Agricultural produce markets suffers long distance from the market, poor infrastructure, lack of means of transport, poor access to market information and the long value chains due to high number of brokers and middlemen  (Karani & Wanjohi, 2017). For the longest time, small scale farmers have lacked access to credit, market for produce and technology. This market system inefficacy has led to low productivity. Most African countries have not invested in agricultural research, a mere 0.7% of the GDP is allocated for research.  The lack of research has hindered technology and transformation for agricultural markets (Salami, Kamara, Abdul, & John, 2010). Ameru (2018) also identified low information literacy, lack of support by the government, high cost of information as some of the challenges limiting utilization of agricultural marketing (Ameru Julian, 2018)

According to Karani and Wanjohi (2017), eighty five ( 85%) of small scale farmers depend on middle men, of which 92% of this group believes that middlemen exploit them, however, a portion of farmers (69.1%)  still feel that middle men are important in the agricultural marketing. From this study, it was clear that 72.2% of farmers rely on mobile phone for market information. Research has also confirmed a strong correlation between access to information and agricultural produce marketing  (Karani & Wanjohi, 2017).

2.3 Access to market information

Farmers who have access to market information have demonstrated capacity to make informed decisions about produce pricing, they are likely to sell produce at a higher price unlike the uninformed farmer who is taken advantage of by the middlemen and brokers. Low farm-gate prices, high market fees and associated losses are closely linked to poor access and utilization of market information in the region (Gacheri, 2008). Eighty ( 80% ) currently utilize mobile phones in sharing of agricultural marketing information , internet and journals have not been well utilized because most farmers lack access (Ameru Julian, 2018)

There is need for structural transformation of agriculture and food systems in order to ensure food security and nutrition (FAO, IFAD, UNICEF, 2019). Linking farmers to the market can improve terms of trade, lower transactional costs and expenses involved in physical search for markets. There is need to maintain market intelligence on agricultural systems, local markets, monitoring of export demand, and supply of produce (Rola-rubzen & Hardaker, 2015).

Farmers have identified radio and mobile phone (47%) as the channels they prefer for agricultural market information, mobile was ranked position 1 while radio was ranked second. The use of extension workers, seminars billboards (35%) was also preferred as compared to churches and group leaders (12%) (Ameru Julian, 2018). The ability to meet demand is a precondition for entering any market. It’s important that governments take responsibility in helping farmers increase productivity. This strategic decision can only happen based on available market information from research and market intelligence. Technology is key in breaking the geographical, economic barriers (Rola-rubzen & Hardaker, 2015)

3.0 Marketing Automation

3.1 Role of marketing automation in Agriculture

Marketing is the only way farmers can have access to the market (Karani & Wanjohi, 2017). The focus on improving infrastructure, information and technology can help in keeping track on changes in food security.  The role of data cannot be underestimated, collection and analysis of data on real time basis can identify hunger key drivers, vital food shortage indicators for use by government, development partners and farmers (FSIN, 2019).

Marketing automation allows companies to streamline marketing processes, better organize marketing tasks, fully automate marketing strategies and precisely measure their effectiveness, (Świeczak, 2013). The use of software to create workflows has made marketing easier, it’s possible to trigger correspondent actions on users visiting a platform or a website. Automatic response can be schedules for emails and SMS ([Hammond, 2011). Marketing automation is important in scheduling tasks, it helps in customer engagement, it is also useful in delivering the right content to the right audience (Kentico, 2019). According to VR Insight (2015) 80% of marketers who have implemented marketing automation have seen their number of leads increase.  Marketing automation allows setting of workflows, emails, SMS, social media campaigns. The integration of marketing automation with customer relationship management systems enables businesses nurture relationships, track leads and close sales. All marketing automation has a dashboard for data analysis, they provide reports on market intelligence (stitchDX, 2017). Marketing automation has greater analytical capacity, it helps companies maintain data bases, to monitor analyze customer behavior through websites and mobile application. It also helps in customer segmentation, lead generation, cross-selling and upselling, sales, advertising and relationship marketing (Świeczak, 2013).

3.2 Past efforts in agricultural online marketing platforms

Table 3.2 List of current agricultural mobile applications in the market and their role

3.3 Agricultural Market gap analysis

Lack of access to market information on demand, supply and prices came out strongly as a major barrier in agriculture and access to the market. The lack of information has been attributed to lack of investment in research, technology by the government to disseminate important information to farmers. The over reliance on extension officers to deliver this information has not been efficient. Similarly, brokers and middlemen are believed not to commensurately compensate farmers financially for their produce and hard work. For lack of a better option, the small scale farmers still rely on this group for market information, storage services and connection to the global market. Farmers      have identified mobile technology as the most effective way to disseminate market information, they have also called upon the government to partner with private sector in research and agricultural marketing.

Most of the agricultural technology was created between 2017 and 2019.  Less than 5 of the reviewed applications were created earlier than 2016. Developers have focused on creating technology for farm record management in general. Other application have specialized on one type of livestock or crop. Eg dairy animals and poultry. We see applications offering question and answer for farm inputs and animal diseases or crop diseases information. Mkulima young, is one of the apps focusing on connecting young farmers to young farmers. It has locked out the rest of the population. Mkulina young wants to lock out middle men from the value chain. Digital farmers Kenya, though not an app but Facebook page, has also made attempts to link farmers to the market through posting information on Facebook, this method demands that a farmer has to be online full time to access this information.

Most applications have very few downloads, the adoption rate is low. Some application are member based others are free to access. The human interface within the connection has also slowed down adoption and scalability of most technologies. Any costs introduced to maintain the applications, slows down uptake. Applications offered for free lack sustainability. Agriculture, food security is a public good. Farmers are not able to pay private sector for access to information. There is need for government intervention to bridge the gap in information asymmetry, providing market information to small scale farmers, the development of better information system, infrastructure for communication with small scale farmers is paramount in ensuring access to market information and remaining relevant in the global and local markets (Rola-rubzen & Hardaker, 2015)

4.0 Proposed Market linkage intervention –SokoBora

4.1 The role of sokobora

Globalization of agricultural markets by integrating different regions, breaking down the barriers in agricultural value chains, through developing technologies, communication systems, and information sharing is one of the ways to deal with market linkage challenges, information asymmetry, social, economic and geographical barriers (Rola-rubzen & Hardaker, 2015). SokoBora provides the local famer with an opportunity to either sell direct to consumer, sell to middlemen, to brokers and finally to global market. Unlike most applications seeking to lock out middlemen, this application allows a free market for all.  Middlemen, brokers exist both at county level, national level and regional levels in the market. This application can be accessed via the link below

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=susafric.com.sokobora

Market Linkages: Most farmers lack access to the market, farm produce goes to a waste. The market fluctuates, they are not able to determine the demand and the supply trends. The core role of SokoBora is to link sellers with the buyers with the aim of minimizing the cost of transport through matching the nearest buyer to the nearest seller by region, revealing demand and reducing wastage caused by slow demand and opening up external markets to farmers. Unlike other applications, Sokobora does not intent to lock out middlemen, its aim is to bring together all agricultural market players to interact freely, both producers and service providers. It creates a free market for all, alternatives for the farmers, brokers, retailers’ consumers, wholesalers, supermarkets and hypermarkets.

Research and Analysis:  Apart from connecting farmers to the market, Sokobora offers market research and analysis for all farm produce and services across the county. Consolidating data on demand and supply of products by region, offering advisory services on product pricing and farming seasons based on previous data.  The system is automated with little human intervention. Relevant countrywide reports that can be generated to guide agricultural production and supply that matches the demand by region. Sokobora recognizes institutions like county governments and provides them with necessary market research information that is county specific.

Market information:  The free open national agricultural market allows buyers and sellers to compare prices, to know the demand, supply and availability of products by religion. The SMS based information dissemination makes access to market information real time, this enables farmers who lack internet and android phones remain connected and linked to the market.

Extension services: the platform provides space for service providers to interact with farmers. Farmers are able to search for services they require and get feedback real time. This platform complements the role of government in providing extension service by constantly feeding county government with research and analysis of agricultural produce market. This information can then be disseminated to farmers through county government local offices

4.2 The sokobora conceptual framework

Farmers and agricultural service providers remain key stakeholders on the platform, they download and self-register their business, and they upload produce and services. Buyers register to buy from the platform. This buyers can either be as brokers, middlemen, retailers, wholesalers, supermarkets or individual buyers.  Sokobora provides common market place, SUS-AFRIC analyses the information and shares with county governments and farmers

4.2 The sokobora Sample Output Reports  

Pending analysis from the app

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http://www.jkuat.ac.ke/departments/it/top-10-mobile-apps-every-african-must-have/

https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2001281733/top-farming-apps-in-kenya

By: Duncan Mboyah 18/06/18 https://www.scidev.net/sub-saharan-africa/agriculture/news/kenya-mobile-apps-transform-agriculture.html

 June 27, 2018 https://graduatefarmer.co.ke/2018/06/27/5-useful-farming-apps-in-kenya/

 https://www.nation.co.ke/lifestyle/7-apps-to-help-revolutionise-your-farming/1190-4147072-rdxf67z/index.html  THURSDAY OCTOBER 19 2017