An agritech startup is helping farmers connect with buyers. It is an online marketplace for farmers to register and sell their produce. DANIEL ESSIET reports.
The agritech business sector has seen growth with numerous startups emerging with new technologies to cater to the needs of farmers and maximise their output. One of them is a start up Bellefu.com, which services aid agricultural productivity and profitability.
He said the idea behind the startup is to deliver tech-enabled future-ready solutions to the farming community in a frictionless manner and revolutionise the way post-harvest management services are processed across the country.
Bellefu.com is helping farmers store produce and sell at a better price. The spokesperson, Bellefu.com, Oluwaseun said the idea behind the startup is to deliver tech-enabled future-ready solutions to the farming community in a frictionless manner and revolutionise the way post-harvest management services are processed across the country.
He said: “Post-harvest losses have significant nutritional, health, and financial impacts for both consumers and farmers, disproportionately affecting women, who are largely responsible for managing post-harvest drying, cleaning, and storage. “For rural families, many of whom already live on the edge of hunger, lost food means lost land, water, fertiliser and income for those who can least afford it.
“Lost food also deprives farmers of the opportunity to grow and strengthen their businesses. Growers can produce large quantities of good-quality fruits, ornamentals, and vegetables, but, if they do not have a dependable, fast, and equitable means of getting such commodities to the consumer, losses will be extensive.
“This problem exists in many locations within developing countries. It is accentuated by lack of communication between producers and receivers, and lack of market information.”
Olukumoro added that post-harvest loss in Nigeria is responsible for wiping out as much as half of the harvests for some crops, particularly perishable crops as tomatoes, vegetables, and fruits.
“Some of these losses occur on the farm, during harvest, gathering, and others occur while the commodities are in transit, during offloading (due to poor handling), and in varying degrees in the entire process from farm to fork.
“It does not end at just perishables, but even commodities such as grains. Post-harvest losses (in Nigeria) have been estimated to range between five and 20 per cent for grains; 20 per cent for fish and as high as between 50 and 60 per cent for tubers, fruits and vegetables.
“Post-harvest loss is not just a crop thing, it affects even dairy, where if one milks a cow and it is not properly preserved or processed within three hours, it will go completely bad.”
He said part of the solutions to addressing the problem of post-harvest loss is to employ technology. “Agricultural marketing covers the services involved in moving an agricultural product from the farm to the consumer. Numerous interconnected activities are involved in doing this, such as planning, production, growing and harvesting, grading, packing, transport, storage, agro and food processing, distribution, advertising and sale.
“Companies in these sectors can now choose between traditional business outreach channels or online marketing practices. While a lot of different businesses have taken up digital marketing strategies, and run a mix of offline and online campaigns, the technology adoption rate in the agriculture sector is comparatively low.”
Olukumoro added that digitization and easy internet access have changed the face of farming forever and many in the industry are scrambling to keep up with the new methods available to keep them in touch with their customers.
He said digital marketing in agriculture will eliminate middlemen as farmers can directly contact the buyers, wholesalers and dealers, “and this reduces the number of intermediaries or middlemen in the supply chain. This results in better price realization, better availability of crops, and less scarcity’’.
“Farmers can now have greater and wider access to modern farming methods and techniques through online training and webinars.”
He said at the long-run digital marketing will be beneficial to farmers to reach out and be visible to a broad range of audiences.
“At the same time, they may come in contact with suppliers of post-harvest technologies such as transport, storing, and packaging. In many cases, farmers have to transport their produce to local markets for them to be able to reach buyers. Digital marketing, however, puts the farmer and his produce on a global stage for any prospective buyer/customer to ‘see’.
Olukumoro said this was the gap Bellefu.com has come to fill as it emerged as the first, dynamic and unique online marketplace with several digital/online options for the world of agriculture to enjoy. He said there are bellefu app for android and iOS users, bellefu blog, bellefu online farmers’ radio, webinars – and a strong social media presence.”
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