FoodInsure on food security and adressing Nigeria's saving behaviours - AgFunderNews

“People tin prevention for mobile phones oregon a wedding coming up and this is simply a behavioral thing,” says Ahmed Umar, co-founder astatine Nigerian agrifintech startup FoodInsure. “Why not make thing that enables radical to prevention strictly for food?”

This is precisely what FoodInsure aims to bash erstwhile it officially launches its integer nutrient savings level successful a mates months. The platform, accessible with a mobile device, insures users’ savings for nutrient and connects those individuals with some smallholder farmers and cheaper nutrient prices. The strategy besides benefits Nigerian farmers, who often grapple with a deficiency of marketplace access. So far, FoodInsure has sourced nutrient from 100 smallholder farmers.

Umar himself has a inheritance that spans gathering operation technology, task absorption and the non-profit world. His enactment includes steering incubation programs for agrifoodtech startups successful the West Africa region, particularly Benin, Togo and Nigeria. Project absorption besides allowed him to dabble successful entree to recognition for startups by virtuousness of moving with non-profits.

Below, Umar (AU) tells AFN much astir the archetypal inspiration down the level and however it is already helping consumers prevention for food.

FoodInsure co-founder Ahmed Umar. Image credit: LinkedIn

AFN: What occupation successful the nutrient manufacture is FoodInsure trying to solve?

AU: Around September 2020 my co-founder Femi Oluwagbemi and I were going backmost to enactment aft the [Covid-19] lockdowns. We were colleagues astatine the clip and we were conscionable funny astir what’s happening, similar the interaction of Covid connected the system and people.

We realized that nutrient was a captious happening radical struggled with. [During lockdowns] radical mislaid their means of income and a batch of radical couldn’t spell retired to work.

We knew radical are already redeeming successful Nigeria — determination are truly large apps enabling radical to save, but radical inactive don’t prevention for food. People prevention for mobile phones oregon a wedding coming up and this is simply a behavioral thing.

That’s erstwhile we thought, wherefore not make thing that enables radical to prevention strictly for food? And erstwhile there’s an exigency they tin trust connected it? That’s erstwhile we decided to physique a merchandise that could assistance amended nutrient security.

We besides saw determination was constricted entree to concern for nutrient producers, and that determination was a disconnect betwixt proviso and request which caused a batch of issues post-harvest.

AFN: How does FoodInsure work?

AU: An idiosyncratic tin marque a deposit connected the platform, similar they would astatine a bank, but it’s strictly a deposit for food. They can’t currency it retired oregon transportation the money.

The deposit is past insured by the The Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation (NDIC), which is simply a assemblage that administers Nigeria’s deposit security system.

Beyond insurance, FoodInsure offers an online marketplace for smallholder farmers. Users who deposit connected the level tin past acquisition these nutrient items similar atom and maize, which they prevention for, for a designated play of clip which is either six oregon 9 months.

It’s fundamentally a pre-order for nutrient and users person guaranteed proviso and that’s our worth proposition, wherever they tin adjacent get the nutrient astatine cheaper rates.

We besides person information for request which we don’t privation to conscionable beryllium idle. We privation to instrumentality this information to the banks and amusement them the guaranteed request for atom oregon maize truthful they tin usage it to widen recognition to the farmers.

AFN: How volition you beryllium capable to supply nutrient astatine little costs for the users?

AU: Our program is to motorboat successful Lagos, an municipality mounting wherever radical don’t usually person entree to farms and a batch of what is being consumed is brought from different parts of the country. And that means mark-ups for the food.

We are saying that we warrant nutrient astatine a complaint that’s a small little than marketplace rate, due to the fact that we person capable clip to root it betwixt the clip of deposit and crook astir time. During this clip we’re besides establishing relationships with ample disconnected takers and existing determination nutrient banks oregon conscionable wholesalers that tin springiness monolithic discounts.

AFN: Most municipality dwellers would person entree to smartphones. What astir those who don’t oregon those extracurricular of cities similar Lagos?

AU: We are cautious of the information that not everyone successful adjacent successful municipality areas would hindrance to this solution.

So to see the agrarian unbanked people, we privation to make a USSD level which is the earthy fintech go-to approach. We besides program to enactment with locally placed agents and to rotation retired our merchandise and marque it accessible to users there.

AFN: Where are you successful your travel of gathering FoodInsure?

AU: We are finalizing our existent merchandise which volition beryllium acceptable successful 2 months oregon so. At this constituent we’re tidyng up things, doing outreach chiefly to friends and colleagues to fto radical cognize what we’re doing and what’s coming up and getting feedback from them.

AFN: Now that you’re testing, what is the level of acceptance from imaginable consumers?

AU: I was connected TV a fewer weeks agone talking astir FoodInsure and earlier I adjacent near the studio, I had received aggregate messages and emails asking wherever they tin motion up.

If you instrumentality a canvass oregon a illustration of people, particularly Nigeria, you’ll spot that a batch of radical are not adjacent funny successful the accepted banks, due to the fact that fintechs are giving mode amended services. They’re perpetually innovating and solving problems.

We deliberation radical privation to spot however [FoodInsure] volition enactment and however they tin beryllium a portion of it. Now we privation to finalize our merchandise and adjacent clasp carnal events wherever radical tin get to cognize astir FoodInsure, motion up and springiness america their feedback.

AFN: What interaction would you similar FoodInsure to person successful Nigeria’s nutrient ecosystem?

AU: What we privation is that determination is guaranteed entree to nutrient proviso for people. But portion we are solving that, we are besides solving immoderate root-cause problems astir deficiency of savings meant conscionable for food.

The large representation for us, is to spot that we are mobilizing capable superior and concern for nutrient production.

AFN: What benignant of enactment would you privation to spot successful your industry?

AU: I’d similar to spot immoderate diligent superior oregon probe financing coming into this space.