Foremost composite e-commerce giant, Konga has partnered with UKAid-funded Frontier Technology Livestreaming to deploy the power of e-commerce in reaching rural farmers across Nigeria’s vast landscape.

Indeed, the partnership will see Konga – a major player in Africa’s biggest market – leverage its huge technology backbone, considerable network of branches across the nooks and crannies of Nigeria, its considerable delivery capacity and effortless ability to reach the last mile in empowering the beneficiaries to do more.

The partnership involves implementing a pilot through the Frontier Technology Livestreaming Programme, a UKAid funded programme established in 2016 that is designed to help innovators apply frontier technologies to the biggest challenges in development.

Specifically, Konga emerged as the technology partner for the project after it came out tops in a rigorous selection process. The e-commerce giant is expected to deploy its various assets in ameliorating or trouble-shooting supply chain issues which hamper the output of rural, smallholder farmers in Nigeria. These include their access and time to market for critical agricultural inputs, as well as their pricing and the quality of these goods.

Through Konga, the pilot aims to enable rural farmers to be reached more effectively, seamlessly and quicker with farming essentials such as crop seedlings, fertilizers and much more. This is expected to significantly improve the quality of grown crops, further translating to better margins and revenue for beneficiaries. In addition, these smallholder farmers can now reach consumers and markets in the metropolises or urban centres with their harvested products in record time through K-Xpress –  Konga’s internally-owned, technology-driven logistics company which boasts advanced competencies in delivery.

Equally important and beyond the pilot, farmers are expected to be able to take advantage of Konga’s online marketplace to reach a bigger audience of potential consumers of their products by setting up their stores and listing their farm produce on the platform. Also, the platform will afford them a chance to structure their pricing, while leveraging Konga Pay, a Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) licensed e-wallet to receive payments from customers.

Nick Imudia is Co-Chief Executive Officer at Konga Group.

‘‘Through this landmark partnership between Konga and Frontier Technology Livestreaming, we expect to play a central role in not only empowering but also positively changing the narrative for rural farmers across Nigeria. The world as a whole has been making progress towards improved food security and we cannot deny the crucial role that agriculture plays in the process of overall national development.

‘‘In fact, rural farmers are central to the achievement of the aforementioned ideals, especially in view of their indispensability in the system of things. However, these smallholder farmers are beset by a number of challenges which hamper their ability to scale.

‘‘This is where Konga and Frontier Technology Livestreaming come in, backed by DFID. Through this project, we aim to see these farmers take advantage of the power of e-commerce and technology, by extension, in boosting their contributions to the task of achieving food security in Nigeria,’’ he disclosed.

‘‘Konga will provide the much-needed assets – access, our marketplace platform, delivery vans, bikes and lorries, payment wallet and more – for the achievement of these objectives while Frontier Technology Livestreaming will bring essential innovation, governance and programme management expertise to bear on the project,’’ he concluded.