Bashaier…

Egypt’s M-Agriculture Channel

The 1st

Agriculture Marketing Network

combining ICT and inclusive business

to enable change in the rural economy

A project of

Knowledge Economy Foundation

November 2016

Agribusiness in the Rural Economy

Egypt’s rural economy

7 million farmers in Egypt

Rural exodus expels youth to urban slums or migration

70% of the cultivated land in small holdings of less than 5 acres

Small scale agriculture a necessity to secure food security

(Ifad 2015)

The eco-system

5688 agriculture cooperatives

2500 NGOs involved in agriculture

20000 market buyers: food processors, exporters, retail chains

30000 input suppliers, service providers & banks

50000 research centers, faculties & schools

Small scale agriculture is a necessity to secure food security

worldwide (IFAD 2015)

Rural development is key to limit & reduce urban slums by

attracting & maintaining youth

Small farmers communities are viable IF supported by a

network securing their integration in their value chain with a

sustainable inclusive business approach

“Improved income through better marketing” is the primary

motive for triggering change in the rural communities & for

securing sustainability of capacity building projects.

ICT is the agent of change, but to be fully effective, it should

be embedded in “inclusive business”.

“Agrifood” value chain at large is a privileged sector to

combine “Business” to “CSR”.

Mini hubs at village/farmers association combining

marketing, sales, logistics and input supplies management

and linked to central marketing channel interfacing with the

market.

Addressing small farmers communities finance needs,

customized to their operations & catering for the

opportunities generated by gaps in the value chain.

Organizing clusters between agribusiness SMEs & small

farmers associations.

NGO (No. 8747/Law 84) created by entrepreneurs with social

business interests, and experts in ITC, business information,

agrifood, to address the lack of knowledge management and

dissemination at the core of Egypt’s development challenges.

Vision: Knowledge applied to business activities enables

bottom-up empowerment, while generating entrepreneurship

and competitiveness

Mission: Develop inclusive business approaches focusing on

MSMEs linkage to their markets, through the set-up of

sustainable marketing networks using ICT-based tools and

targeting the agribusiness value chains representing 50%+ of

the economy and of the Egyptians livelihood.

Knowledge Economy Foundation

KEF Objectives and Strategy

1. Establishing “Bashaier” as the 1st

Agriculture Marketing

Network fulfilling the farmers primary need for sustainable

marketing solutions

2. Marketing: the “carrot” pulling up small farmers in the value

chain & enabling “good agricultural practices”

3. ICT tools: mobile and web platform, to support the marketing

network and create attractive new rural job opportunities for

the youth corresponding to their life styles

4. Inclusive business approach provides “rural entrepreneur”

opportunities for the youth at local and regional levels: such as

post harvest services, clusters, etc…

5. Managing the network of small farmers communities (Coops –

NGOs) through direct linkages to their markets

The approach:

Combining ICT and inclusive business 1/2

Providing direct linkages to the small farmers with all the

players in the agriculture value chain: companies, factories,

coops and associations, experts, etc… as an alternative

supply chain to the traders monopoly.

Launching the 1st

Agriculture Online Marketplace on mobile

and web matching directly buyers and sellers offers

Supplying market and technical information customized to

each farmer location and crop cycle with user friendly

channels: Call Center, SMS.

Egypt’s 2030 strategy adopted e-commerce and digital

network as the basis of the agriculture sector

development.

The Marketplace

Direct matching between small farmers groups and

the market buyers served by the “online marketplace” on

mobile and web

Management of supply contracts and contract farming on

demand for both market buyers and Coops/NGOs

Market information services

Market prices on customized SMS sent daily

Technical tips and weather forecast on customized SMS

sent 2/3 times week

In process: hot line for technical advice

The approach:

Combining ICT and inclusive business 2/2

Bashaier M-Agriculture Channel

Bashaier Online Marketplace

supports the 4 main marketing

operations:

1. Buy offers for crops

2. Sell offers for crops

3. Buy offers for input supplies

4. Sell offers for input supplies

The mobile app provides for each

operation the listing & matching of

Buy/Sell offers & the search in all

offers published

Bashaier M-Agriculture Channel

Daily Market Prices

In cooperation with Obour

Market, the prices of vegetables,

fruits and medicinal and aromatic

plants are published daily.

Sending the prices daily to

farmers on SMS based on

matching the crops selected by

the farmers when registering to

the service.

Publishing the prices on

Bashaier.net and mobile app.

Analysis of Crops Market Prices

Analysis of crop prices for last 3

years providing the highest and

lowest price per month

By using this analysis, the farmer

will be able to better plan his

crop cycle.

By using this analysis, the farmer

will be able to better negotiate

prices for the crop.

Bashaier M-Agriculture Channel

Weather/technical tips & extension

In cooperation with the

Agricultural Research Center,

Bashaier sends daily/weekly

weather forecasts, technical

advice and best agriculture

practices;

This includes: temperature, wind

speed, humidity, rain, etc… and

technical advice (irrigation and

pest control) for the 10 most

important crops in each

governorate;

Sending by SMS to farmers

according to their location.

Bashaier M-Agriculture Channel

Bashaier Channels of Communication

Bashaier.net : the Knowledge Center

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1. Operating the value chain linkages 1/2:

Establishing the value chain: the Sell side:

• Selecting the active farmers Coops/NGOs: to date: 100

associations are members of “Bashaier Network”;

• Training Coops/NGOs to manage bulk selling and buying and

to contract on behalf of farmers;

• Designing and managing contract farming and supply

contracts with corresponding financing schemes;

• Marketing plans for the farmers crops and promotion

through the IT platform.

The inclusive business approach

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1. Operating the value chain linkages 2/2:

Establishing the value chain: the Buy side:

• Targeting the organized market buyers: factories, retail

chains, exporters , etc…;

• Mapping the market buyers and promoting direct linkages

and contracts with small farmers associations;

• Securing the management of the Marketing Network;

• Identifying market-driven rural MSMEs opportunities.

The inclusive business approach

The inclusive business approach

2. Managing the network of small farmers communities with

a business oriented approach:

• Small farmers communities are viable IF supported by

a network securing their integration in their value chain with

a sustainable inclusive business approach;

• Securing the management of the marketing network

requires managing both the sell side (the farmers and their

associations) and the buy side (the market buyers);

• The Agriculture Marketing Network becomes an effective

tool to operate the value chain linkages.

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3. Rural development opportunities for youth:

• Set-up of “knowledge kiosks” at village level to interact as

“correspondents” of Bashaier Marketing Network, on the

model of the Indian Village Entrepreneur;

• Mini hubs at village/farmers association level combining

marketing, sales, logistics and input supplies management;

• Clusters between agribusiness SMEs & small farmers

associations;

• Incubating the opportunities generated by gaps in the

agriculture value chains: horticulture, dairy, fisheries….

The inclusive business approach

KEF new projects

NEMO Egypt is a project of the Italian Cooperation for

the rural development of Marsa Matrouh communities.

KEF is in charge of providing technical and legal expertise

to the small farmers of Matrouh for the establishment of

a farmer’s association, develop their business plan and train

them to its management and marketing procedures.

KEF new projects

On behalf of the ILO/ International Labour Organization,

KEF is in charge of adapting to the Egyptian market

the successful methodology developed by the ILO in several

Asian countries to train the range of local government

officers and business providers to study and design

the potential business opportunities at local level, based on

innovative “ToT” approach.

KEF new projects

A Dairy mini-hubs program funded by IDRC/International

Development Research Centre of Canada, and developed

in cooperation with the Faculty of Agriculture, Ain Shams

University, to design and test optimum models for

regrouping small dairy farmers output into existing and/or

new mini-hubs collecting centers and offering them

comprehensive technical and marketing services to enable

income growth.

KEF/Bashaier- Orange Partnership

Orange Egypt supports farmers information service

Friday 16 December 2016 | 13:11 CET | News Orange Egypt in cooperation with

Bashaier Foundation has launched the first digital network for agricultural

marketing in Egypt. Under the cooperation Orange provided its technical support

and expertise in the field of digital applications to Bashaier. The foundation will

help farmers obtain information on prices of vegetables and fruits, as well as

medicinal and aromatic plants.

The prices are sent periodically in the form of text messages (SMS) classified

according to the requests of each subscriber. In addition, farmers are supplied with

weather forecasts and agricultural guidance over text messages according to their

geographic area. The Bashaier application is designed to provide an opportunity for

small-scale farmers to interact directly with all parties in the agricultural

marketing system to market, sell and buy their products, whether they are

companies, factories, associations, universities or agriculture schools.

To facilitate the service, Orange Egypt allows customers to pay their subscription

either via direct debit of the balance or to add the value of the service on their

monthly bill. Orange Egypt also offers full support for subscribers in this service by

dedicating the hot number 7676, allocated to respond to inquiries of all those who

are registered in the Bashaier network.

KEF/Bashaier Partners

Thank You