tech4farmers operates a digital commodity exchange and warehouse receipt system (75 Businesses + 6,300 farmers) where agricultural products and inputs are traded since 2012. tech4farmers is projected to connect 1,712,788 farmers to markets by 2020. A warehouse receipt can be used to collateralize grains, cereals or fresh food placed by a named depositor into a secure storage environment. This type of financing mechanism can ensure structured trade and promote produce bulking because farmers, cooperatives and agribusinesses can freely trade the receipts on their computerized exchange platform. Use of the platform helps to promote transparency in value chains, mitigate against side-selling and improve product traceability.
tech4farmers users are comprised of businesses and individuals, e.g. off-takers, farmers, warehouse operators, input dealers, processors, financial service providers and transporters. Subscribers can access all of their services through http://www.tech4farmers.com. In addition, for rural farmers without access to the Internet they can access their services through supplementary SMS or USSD channels over a GSM enabled mobile phone or field partners. tech4farmers’ product portfolio can be viewed from http://www.tech4farmers.com/enterprise/products
Innovator: http://www.ict4ras.org/speaker/innovator-deogratious-afimani/
