 |
April 05, 2018, 09:03:46 PM |
|
Hadiza, from Kaduna State, a city located in Northern Nigeria, is a “small holder” rice farmer who like millions of others, produces food for herself and her local community in Jere. Hadiza has been receiving her payments in cash for several years and while she knows it is a “safe option”, she has been increasingly searching for better options to manage her finances and improve her exposure to household risks. Fortunately, Hadiza is one of 80 farmers who will benefit from the first wave of our pilot which has been deployed this week.
In preparation for the pilot, our first step was to understand the cash flow cycles of the farmers to match them appropriately with an agent network. Our findings revealed that farmers in Jere community received at least N200,000 in payments per day (more than $550). Leveraging this information, we were able to design an effective liquidity management system and also partnered with an agent network to reliably cater to this need. The agent network is within 10 minutes of walkable distance from the farms, compared to the closest microfinance bank that costs at least N400 ($1.2) to reach through an okada (a motorbike) or other forms of public transport in 30 minutes.
Hadiza and her co-farmers in Kaduna State are not the only ones who will benefit from our pilot — this is just the first phase. Subsequent phases will be conducted with other farming communities in Lagos, Ogun and Gombe. While we have a conservative target of 300 farmers, we intend to reach many more farmers with the service. Currently, modalities are being put in place to set up agents in these other farming communities with agent training to commence in the next few weeks. These farming communities will include livestock and crop farmers with a significant number being women.
|
