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FarmSmart: My IFA Journey to Aiding Farmers in Nigeria

What better way to start the year but taking on a new challenge as an IFA FELLOW. It was a mix bag of emotion, equal parts challenging, enlightening, collaborative to name a few. But it’s an experience I wont trade for 2-BTC.

IFA

Innovate for Africa offers innovators an opportunity to develop skills, mindsets and behaviors that makes them better positioned to take leadership roles in future entrepreneurial/intrapreneurial roles. IFA is committed to strengthening the innovation ecosystem by empowering existing and aspiring innovators. The one-year fellowship starts with a one-month Innovation Readiness Training (IRT) for which I have spent one amazing week. In this one action packed week, we have created a profile on the IFA portal, worked on a one-page resume and created a portfolio website while introducing us to the core principles of design thinking.


HACKATHON

Being a program that encourages a wide range of thought and ideas, fellows were tasked with suggesting topics that covered problem areas in Nigerian context that ranged from education, healthcare, agriculture and finance. These ideas passed through a vote and fellows were put in groups tasked with passing the problems with the highest votes through the design thinking process.



ISSUE AREA

I was placed in the group with Agriculture as our primary issue area. This group was diverse in our experiences and makeup with one outstanding female member Karen and great fellows in Isiaka, Sope, Segun and myself. Of course, we also voted Karen to lead us in our journey from problem to solution formation. Our first task as a group was to suggest possible problem statements and vote on the same. The focus was to give us a broad canvas in which to challenge our thoughts on issues faced in the agricultural sector with one obvious problem of course funding. Several great suggestions came out of the process but we eventually went for one that reflected problems on financial access and education for Nigerian farmers after empathetically looking at what life as a farmer in NIGERIA meant. Next it was important to define point of view…



PMR INTERVIEWS

After identifying potential interviewees within our immediate and extended network we were able to get 10 names. Our interviewees were mostly small-scale farmers from across the country.

QUESTIONS ASKED

After we drew up a slate of guide questions to better understand the problem from the target customers point of view, these included: The type of farming the individual practiced, their motivations for starting farming, sources of funding they are aware of, groups or cooperatives to which they belong, and the attendant benefits of being part of these groups, their thoughts on expansion and funding for expansion.

WHAT WE LEARNED

As mentioned earlier while expected most of the farmers we would discuss with would bring up the problem of obtaining finance for business sustenance, growth and expansion we made some eye-opening discoveries. Many farmers had difficulty obtaining funding and other farming related information. One of these information challenges was in relation to sales of their produce on harvest. Unable to plan post harvest sales they faced significant loss making thoughts of expansion like selling ice to folks in the artic. While funding information is critical any solution that doesn’t provide other farming related information may be suboptimal.

Enter farmSmart an information resource for Nigerian farmers that gives them information for funding, post harvest market resources and planting practice resources. Still in our early phases of fleshing out this innovative idea, we believe ‘we are onto something simple and special here’.




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