SEED: More Produce, Less Waste

Inspiration

Victoria, one of our co-founders, watched her grandmother tirelessly work on her farm, tending to her crops with care and dedication. But no matter how hard she worked, the cycle remained the same—one season, she had more produce than she could sell, and the next, she struggled to get enough food on the table. The surplus would often go to waste due to a lack of storage or market access, while during shortages, she had to buy food at inflated prices. This imbalance was not just her struggle—it was the reality for many small-scale farmers in Kenya.

As a team, we have grown deeply passionate about sustainability efforts and fully understand the impact they can have.

What I Learned

I realized that post-harvest loss isn’t just about food waste—it directly impacts food security, economic stability, and gender equity in agriculture. Women, who make up a significant portion of smallholder farmers, face additional challenges in accessing markets and financial opportunities. Through research, I discovered that 1/3 of all food produced globally is lost or wasted, making this a massive issue that demands innovative solutions.

How We Built SEED

SEED was designed as a community-driven marketplace to connect farmers with buyers in real time. The platform allows farmers to:

• Buy, sell, donate, or trade harvested produce before it goes to waste.
  
• Access predictive analytics on weather, market demand, and storage options to plan better.
  
• Receive real-time notifications via SMS/WhatsApp when a buyer needs their product.
  
• Leverage AI matching to connect with the right customers based on location, crop type, and freshness index.
  

We developed SEED using Bubble.io for the web platform, integrating AI algorithms for market predictions and automated matching. For offline farmers, we included a USSD/SMS feature, ensuring accessibility even in areas with limited internet connectivity. Payment is facilitated through M-PESA, a widely used mobile money service in East Africa.

Challenges Faced

1. Building for Accessibility: Many small-scale farmers have limited digital literacy, so we had to ensure that SEED remained intuitive and user-friendly.
   
2. Market Trust: Farmers were hesitant about selling their produce online, given past experiences with unreliable buyers and unfair pricing.
   
3. Infrastructure Limitations: Cold storage is still a challenge, so we had to prioritize connecting farmers with buyers quickly to minimize spoilage.
   

The Vision Moving Forward

Built With

• bubble.io
• canva
• get.tech
• googleslides