Posted on November, 1, 2018 at 09:35 am
For a long time, farmers have been complaining of middlemen who exploit them. Well, this could soon be a thing of the past if farmers adopt a new app developed by an IT student at Technical University of Mombasa.
Isaac Kyalo has come up with Soko Moja, which helps farmers sell their products directly to customers. This way, they avoid the middlemen who often buy their produce at throw-away prices and sell it at a huge profit.
“Most farmers complain that they are swindled by middlemen. These farmers work very hard but get very little returns because of the brokers who take advantage of them,” says Mr Kyalo, 24.
“The app will help minimise losses and exploitation, enabling farmers to reap the real benefit of their hard work.”
The app can be downloaded from Google play store, after which a farmer can create an account and login. They can then post on the platform the amount of products they want to sell and their prices. They also provide location and their contact numbers.
Mr Kyalo says the platform is also beneficial for buyers of farm producers.
“Business people or final customers who also have the app will be able to see the list of products posted by the farmers. They will contact the farmer on the ground through the number provided. The farmer will receive their money directly from the clients without any effort from the brokers,” he says.
Mr Kyalo adds that farmers will also have a wider scope of customers to their products, courtesy of the online platform.
He says this will spur competition, pushing farmers to produce high quality products because customers have a variety of choices.
”“The app will broaden the market for the farmers and the variety of products for the customers. This will create high competition, making farmers strive to produce high quality products. Our local markets will have quality goods,” he says.
Source: Business Daily