TERA | Devpost

Inspiration

The staggering post-harvest losses in Senegal, which can reach up to 50-70% for certain fresh products, represent a major obstacle for farmers to reap the benefits of their hard work. Additionally, the lack of proper market access creates challenges not only for farmers but also for consumers, who face limited availability of fresh produce and fluctuating prices.

Beyond these challenges, many smallholder farmers remain invisible in the formal economy due to the lack of a recognized digital identity. This prevents them from accessing financial services, market opportunities, and essential agricultural support programs.

This dual challenge inspired us to create TERA, a solution that not only addresses the conservation of agricultural products and efficient farmer-to-consumer connections but also leverages digital identity to enhance financial inclusion, product traceability, and trust in the supply chain.

What it does

Our project aims to reduce post-harvest losses and improve market access for producers by leveraging solar-powered refrigerated warehouses and a digital identity system to enhance traceability, transparency, and financial inclusion.

We provide an innovative application that allows farmers to locate and book solar-powered refrigerated warehouses developed by us and in partnership with the government. Using their digital identity, farmers can securely access these warehouses, track their stored inventory, and connect to a marketplace that directly links them with consumers, reducing intermediaries and ensuring better pricing.

The project relies on three key applications:

Producer App: Enables farmers to rent warehouse spaces, track their inventory, and monitor their sales. Their digital identity allows them to build a transaction history, which can be used to access microloans and financial services. Consumer App: Allows consumers to purchase fresh crops directly from farmers, ensuring a shorter, more transparent supply chain with verifiable product origins. Admin App: Helps warehouse owners and employees manage storage spaces, monitor operations, and optimize resource use with identity-verified transactions. By integrating digital identity, our system not only minimizes post-harvest losses but also empowers farmers financially, improves market efficiency, and promotes sustainability in the agricultural sector.

How we built it

The three applications were designed using Figma. The front-end was developed with Flutter, while the back-end was built using Node.js. The database schema was modeled with StarUML.

To ensure scalability and reliability, the Node.js server was deployed on AWS, and the applications were released in Beta version on the Google Play Store.

A key innovation in our system is the planned integration of digital identity and blockchain technology:

Digital identity verification will be powered by blockchain, ensuring secure authentication and preventing fraud. Farmers will register using their unique digital ID, which will be stored on a decentralized ledger. Farmers’ transaction histories and storage records will be securely recorded on the blockchain, creating a transparent and tamper-proof financial profile that can be used to access microloans and other financial services. The marketplace will leverage blockchain to ensure product traceability, recording each transaction from storage to sale, giving consumers confidence in the origin and quality of the produce. By combining blockchain, cloud infrastructure, and mobile-first development, our solution will provide a secure, transparent, and scalable platform that empowers farmers and consumers.

Challenges we ran into

Design: One of the biggest challenges we faced was finding a balance between simplicity and usability. Since many of our target users are not familiar with modern technology, we needed to make sure they could carry out complex tasks in the easiest way possible. We tackled this challenge by analyzing successful UX patterns in similar contexts and gathering extensive feedback from both farmers and UX experts.

Development: The development process was mostly smooth, but we encountered challenges while deploying the app on AWS and the Play Store. Additionally, we plan to integrate blockchain for identity verification and transaction tracking soon, which presents its own set of challenges in terms of security and scalability. However, we’ve already identified the technical requirements and will address these challenges with expert assistance and thorough testing in the coming phases.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Developing a functional and testable prototype: We have built a functional prototype that demonstrates key features, such as solar-powered refrigerated warehouses and a marketplace for farmers and consumers. While digital identity integration and blockchain technology are not yet implemented, we are planning to incorporate these features soon to enhance transparency, security, and financial inclusion.

Participating in hackathons: Our participation in hackathons has been invaluable in helping us test our ideas, push the limits of our solutions, and gather constructive feedback from industry experts. These experiences have shaped the direction of our project and boosted our innovation capabilities.

Incorporating innovative technologies: Even though we haven’t implemented the blockchain and digital identity features yet, we are proud of our progress in conceptualizing how these technologies will contribute to creating a transparent and secure system for both farmers and consumers in the future.

What we learned

Through this project, we have learned that it has significant potential and ample room for growth and improvement. We also learned the importance of patience and resilience—the journey of developing and refining a solution can be challenging, but persistence is key. We discovered that adaptation is essential, especially when tackling complex problems like post-harvest loss and market access, and that each challenge presents an opportunity to learn and innovate.

What's next for TERA

The next steps for TERA include securing sufficient funding to build our solar-powered warehouses and deploy our app on a larger scale. We will continue adding key functionalities, such as blockchain-based identity verification and improved user features. A crucial next step is to familiarize farmers with the app, ensuring they are comfortable using the platform to book storage and manage their produce. Finally, we aim to scale the solution across the country, reaching more farmers and consumers, and expanding our impact on food security, sustainable agriculture, and financial inclusion.