Zeepay shows the way in technology enabled agri-business
Agriculture in Ghana has remained subsistence owing to several factors, but often cited among them is the low literacy of most farmers.
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However, fast moving technology evolution will not allow the farmers to resort to the usual lethargic attitude of embracing change and innovation, as the tech world is quickly churning out tailor-made solutions for which the farmers have no choice but to wade in and adopt, by default or design.
For the almost 20,000 farmers in the Ashanti Region’s green belt of Ejura, grouping them in farmer based organisations (FBO) and ringing in with input suppliers and agro-chemical dealers, mechanisation service providers, extension services and warehouse operators, enables them to access any of these services within the value chain and pay for them either instantly or later.
They do this without knowing that it is technology intermediaries, such as Zeepay – a new mobile money acquiring platform, which facilitate cross-network mobile money transactions – playing a crucial part in ensuring a seamless transaction along the value chain from land preparation to farm maintenance and the sale of produce.
The approach of using software to power platforms to deliver financial services as Zeepay has done for farmers is referred as financial technology (Fintech).
Zeepay agribusiness fintech pilot
The multipurpose electronic payment platform, Zeepay, has started this pilot project to create a mobile money or electronic payments loop for the agribusiness value chain actors where farmers source inputs, maintain their farms and sell produce, using the Zeepay application to make payments or record the debit and credit relationships that are created along the value chain.
Zeepay is doing this in partnership with the Ashanti Regional Directorate of Agriculture to reach out to about 20,000 farmers, grouped into 405 farmer based organisations (FBOs).
The payments aggregator platform already has a partner bank, and on this project it is also collaborating with Airtel as its mobile money partner.
The Co-Founder of Zeepay, Mr Andrew Takyi Appiah, told the GRAPHIC BUSINESS in Accra that “we are an interoperable platform; we like to see ourselves as an aggregator. We are not going to go the single loop – bank to customer, MNO to bit customer, etc. – we need a multi-platform, something that brings many together,” Mr Appiah stated.
This means that irrespective of the network a customer is on, they could use their mobile wallets to pay subscribers of other networks as though they were on the same platform.
Europay, MasterCard and Visa formed an alliance several years ago to grow adoption of electronic payments and the reality is now with us.
Mr Appiah believes working with smallholder farm communities to create a cashless ecosystem where they could pay with their mobile phones is the last mile for mobile money aggregation and that the pilot project will kick-off in January 2016.
This will smartly bring the farmers and players into the formal financial system to enable the authorities appreciate actors to know the transaction levels of the farmers in order to make credit available to them.
Mr Appiah said the aim of Zeepay, which currently collaborates with two international money transfer companies to ensure that transferred funds dropped straight onto the wallets of subscribers, was to be a facilitator.
“We see ourselves as that holistic platform that is going to drive the market, whether at the front or at the back, back end by providing support or at the front by leading the revolution,” he said.
Background
The World Food Programme undertook a pilot programme in the Ejura area where they bought US$1.8 million worth of cereals and legumes from farmers.
According to the Ashanti Regional Director of Agriculture, Mr Kwaku Menka Fordjour, following the success story and in the spirit of promoting a cashless society, “we got into talks with Zeepay and they are going to use their network to get farmers to pay for and access services.”
“The good thing is that,” he explained, “when a farmer needs a particular input and does not have the wherewithal, once they are part of the programme, they could still obtain the fertiliser from a service producer who is also on the platform, and get the input, while the system pays for them,” Mr Fordjour explained.
After the harvest, the farmer takes the produce to the Green Investor Company warehouse where the system determines the indebtedness of the farmer and net off any difference.
The regional director of agric believes that with the introduction of Fintech more farmers would have the confidence to produce banking on ready markets such as the WFP, affordable credit and reliable payments facilitation.
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