A late (but important) post about our interview in Ghana with Esoko! We met David Aduama, Communications Officer for Esoko, in Esoko’s offices in Accra.
To know more about Esoko: https://esoko.com/
or their very interesting blog on m-Agric issues and perspectives : https://esoko.com/about-us/blog/
Esoko was at the origin a trial project that was built on to become a social enterprise. It provides services to farmers via mobile. It also uses this platform connected to farmers to sell polls to organizations.
Business model
Esoko’s main customers are farmers: with its apps that allow to access updated prices for all commodities, or to get alerts on weather, prices... Esoko is now a reference for farmers in Ghana.
- Market information provider (advisory apps): 40000 farmers are members of the network in Ghana, 150000 for the whole Africa. Members receive up-to-date data on market prices that they use to negotiate with their buyers, have access to an index of commodities. They also receive agricultural tips on pre-planting, harvesting, pest control, weather, fertilizer distribution. Esoko intends to make these services as accessible as possible: if clients receive an SMS in English and do not speak English, they can call a number, and will be read the SMS in their local language (more than 80 different languages in Ghana). They can also always call Esoko's call center if they have any questions.
Esoko also works directly with international organizations, charities and companies, in particular for their market research needs:
- Data collection among specific populations for international organizations and charities (marketing, monitoring apps): Big organizations can administrate questionnaires to farmers who are members of the network via mobile phone if they want to get to know some markets better. It can allow to size a population, run household surveys, evidence a poverty profile, map farm sizes... They have 10 of this kind of clients in Ghana (USAID, UNICEF) and 20 across Africa.
- Verification technology: Esoko builds verification technologies to enable consumers to check the validity and accuracy of the products they buy. Ex: Esoko provides a barcode to be put on the product, people send the number to a specific SMS service who indicates if it is fake or not. Esoko provides this service to medical, stove, water companies…
Financials: The subscription cost for a farmer is 1 dollar per month: Esoko currently subsidizes a large amount of operating costs. Surveys for big organizations are charged 3 dollars per farmer, plus the additional costs of the platform. Esoko has not reached breakeven yet, but David is confident it will next year.
HR: Esoko has 50 employees in the Accra office, plus 50 agents in the field in Ghana. 90% of the team is Ghanaian. In Kenya, where they opened a branch this year, they have 11 employees. Esoko's team and facilities in Accra were impressive! Everyone busy at their computers, programming or answering technical agronomic questions... As Jacqueline Novogratz from Acumen put it : "(everyone from the team) are young and talented with agriculture degrees, farming experience and collectively the ability to speak in eight local languages."
Next challenges
Consolidating and improving its social impact: Esoko has invited external researchers to measure its social impact on the farmers. The social impacts on farmers are tangible: on average, those who get market prices through Esoko benefited of an increase of 70% of their income, some even realized a 200% increase. Unsurprising since they are not cheated by their intermediaries anymore. Even commercial agents and buyers find advantages in Esoko, the negotiation time being shorter. According to David Aduama, Africa is going to need to feed the rest of the world, so it is a major issue to work on the farmers’ productivity.
Esoko has just received a USD 1.1M grant to expand in East Africa. By 2020, they want to reach 3 million farmers!
Developing new partnerships: An important challenge to address is involving the state. "The state has been a bit hostile", regrets David; it feels Esoko is taking on its job, although Esoko has invited the state to join the initiative, alas in vain.
Esoko is also trying to launch a farmers’ club to reach more farmers (they reached 200 more farmers this year), but it has been struggling for now.
...and new products : Esoko is developing a flashdrive with an integrated software allows students to take tests from a distance. “ICT makes everything faster and more accessible”, concludes the interviewee.