AMAZLE - Connecting Farmers to markets.

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Inspiration

I grew up in a farming community and family. I have observed two major problems faced by especially small-scale farmers in my locality - the problem of food waste due to post-harvest loss and the activities of middlemen who daily ripped off farmers leading to higher food prices. These have largely contributed to the problem of hunger and poverty in my locality. And this is usually the situation in most societies in developing countries. Presently, these problems have been made worse due to the movement restriction put in place by the Government to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. And this means that farmers are no longer able to sell their farm produce in open markets and as such, most of these produce go to waste and food is not readily available to the people. Presently, in Nigeria as well as most developing nations, hunger poses more threat to livelihood than COVID-19. These problems are what motivated us to develop Amazle.

What it does

We will provide both online and offline supports to enable the delivery of farm produce from the farmers to the consumers in any part of the country. In developing the solution to the above problems, we considered three (3) questions: i. How can we enhance the productivity of our farmers? ii. How can we help our farmers sell their produce amidst the COVID-19 challenge and beyond? iii. How can we get these products delivered to homes in safe and wholesome condition thereby promoting the stay-at-home directive and social distancing? So, our solution seeks to address these questions thereby achieving our cardinal objectives of reducing food waste and loss, alleviating hunger, and poverty.

How can we enhance the productivity of our farmers?

We will take advantage of artificial intelligence to equip farmers with tools to predict weather conditions. With our tool, farmers will be informed and know when to expect rain, drought, etc. Also, farmers will be able to manage their farm records on Amazle. The farmer will also receive information on good farming practices. Our users will be able to access our services on smartphone applications, and social media including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and WhatsApp. More importantly, the service will also be accessed on the USSD platform to provide for the farmer that may not own a smartphone.

How can we help our farmers sell their produce amidst the COVID-19 challenge and beyond?

Farmers will be able to post pictures and prices of their farm produce on Amazle and can sell to buyers in any part of the country. Orders can also be made over the phone especially for those without internet-enabled phones and through our Social Media accounts.

How can we get these products delivered to homes in safe and good condition thereby promoting the stay-at-home directive and social distancing?

Amazle in partnership with Logistics companies such as GIGs, EPS logistics, will transport the farmers' produce more efficiently.

In conclusion, these activities will help reduce post-harvest loss and food waste and farmers will earn more revenue for their efforts, translating to lower food prices for millions of people. Farmers will be able to sell their produce, and food delivered to homes regardless of the lockdown, hence, promoting the stay-at-home directive and social distancing.

How I built it

For the frontend(UI) reactJS was used and Node.js for the backend. MongoDB/Mongoose for Database

Challenges I ran into

Integrating the payment platform. Designing mobile view

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

Building the application from scratch is progress to be commended.

What I learned

Strengthening skills on API calls and adequately making use of the database is knowledge not to part with

What's next for Amazle

We will be implementing the solution in phases. For the next 2 to 4 months, we will focus on the development of the application to meet the desired aim, as well as creating strategic partnerships. Also, we will register the brand with the Corporate Affairs Commission of Nigeria, and obtain copyright and legal protection from the relevant agencies. We will also rent a temporary location from where we will be doing business. The prize money, if we eventually emerge Winners of the Reinvent Hacks will serve as seed funding to achieve this. The pilot will begin in October 2020.