HUDUMA FASTA WAS LAUNCHED ON 5 TH OCTOBER 2011

2. HUDUMA FASTA WAS LAUNCHED ON 5TH OCTOBER 2011

3. Market Information Framework for Farmers in Tanzania - SMS Application

4. PRESENTED TO RICE VALUE CHAIN STAKEHOLDERS MEETING HELD : 20TH MARCH 2012 AT CORAL BEACH HOTEL DSM By M/S BR SOLUTIONS LTD RICHARD D. TOBA

5. Tanzanian Farmer Challenges • Tanzanian farmers are confronted with : • Unequal development opportunities. • Mass poverty • Continued suppression by middle men • Low literacy rate • Limited information about markets The presentation will focus on information enhancement through mobile phones

6. Current Information Gaps People rely on adverts through print and broadcast media to receive information. The current practice has the following setbacks: • Low circulation of news papers • Information given do not always reach people who are in need • People may not be listening radio or watching TV during the advert play time • Media adverts are normally costly and thus not all are able to pay for the adverts (Lot of information not given)

9. Current Information Gap (Cont) • Most adverts not given at the right time when one is in need of the information • Adverts during the prime time are normally very expensive and thus restricts the amount of information given • There are too many media channels to pass the information to the public • Data collection and communication is expensive • Availability of power is problematic to many areas in our country

11. Founder’s Vision • Means for Provision of demand driven information which is focused, rich, fast and reliable to assist people in making informed decisions before they use their meager resources ( i.e. money , time , assets , material and people)

12. What is B R Solutions? • Basic information • Rapid • Solutions

13. Why BR Solutions BR Solutions was brought about by the vision to provide information services under one roof in a manner that is: • Cost effective • Time convenient • More friendly • Focused to one’s needs • Rich and reliable • More Elaborate • Geared to facilitate - quick solution

14. Objectives of BR Solutions Ltd • To assist those with information like sellers to provide the information in a cost effective way and also in a user friendly manner; • To assist those in need of the information to get the information in a convenient manner before they make decisions; • To add some value to mobile service providers by maintaining a robust, reliable and dynamic database; • To add some value to mobile phone owners by assisting them to access needed information in a more convenient way with less cost before they make a decision to invest; • To facilitate creation of employment and entrepreneurship opportunities in all works of life

16. Framework Developed • BR Solutions developed computer mobile phone interactive application to manage data and information analysis and transmission to users • Developed mobile application software to collect data • Developed data management application to manage all information

17. Fields currently in Application • Houses for sell • Houses for rent • Taxi /Transport services • Employment opportunities • Entertainment programmes • Wholesale and Retail Prices for Food Items • Farmers wants and buyers needs on farm produce • Push Messages

18. One of the services; Sale of Farm Produce

20. Current Approach Current approach to sell farm produce • Farmer should pack his/her produce and place the packed produce near the main road for pass buyers to see and buy • Call an agent he knows and sell him at the price the agent will dictate • Send to a near by market on a designated day to sell at the market price which will be dictated by the agents • Incase of rain or inability to get a buyer the farmer reduces the price and sell the produce at go away price or sometimes leaves the produce to rotten

21. BR Solutions approach to sell farm produce • B R Solutions Ltd has created a robust database that contains particulars of agents and farmers with all farm produce stored / required quantities available /needed any where in any city, municipals and towns. • The person in need of the produce will then send a message through his or her mobile phone specifying location he/she is in need of the produce or farmer with the produce and quantities available either parked or not parked. eg. Uza Mazao mchele Kyela

22. BR Solutions approach to sell farm produce(Cont) • From the database the sender of the message will receive details of the buyer who is in need of the item

23. Example For market prices A person needs a service at Mbezi beach and he wants to know about the prices for Rice at Tegeta market, All he needs to do is to send a text message saying: BeiMcheleTegeta, Reply will be: Tegeta DSM, Mchelebeiyachini 1250/= nabeiyajuuni 1400 ref 356.

24. Example A person needs to sell his or her farm produce say maize 200 bags at Njombe, and wants to get maize buyer contact and prices All he needs to do is to send a text message saying: UzamazaoMahindiNjombe , Reply will be: Mnunuziwamahindi, sadikisadikiyupotandika-Dar es Salaam simu 0754 300500

25. Example cont… • Uza mazao maharage • The reply will be: mnunuzi wa maharage ni joachim mboya yupo tandale-Dar kwa bei ya 1400.000 Simu 0777995726

26. Examples on buying from a farmers • A farmer can be anywhere across the county and through huduma fasta the buyers can be connected to them and sell their farm products easy. • The buyer needs to specify the type of products needed and huduma fasta will connect them with sellers of the specified product • Example: nunua mazao viazi • The reply: Muuzaji wa viazi mviringo nickson chikolomo yupo makambako-njombe kwa bei ya 40000/=@gunia Simu 0755990747. Walibakia: 1

27. Example • The buyer also can need to buy from a specific area and get the contacts of the seller from that area • Nunua mazao mchele kyela • The reply will be: Muuzaji wa mchele elly mwakatobe yupo kyela-kyela kwa bei ya 120,000/=@ gunia Simu 0762609039

28. Short Code Used • For All Services you send messages through 15450

29. Regions with some Data Collected • Dar es Salaam Region • Pwani – Bagamoyo, Kibaha, Mlandizi and Chalinze • Morogoro • Iringa • Makambako • Mbeya

30. Essentials • Know and Follow the Format • Specifying Key Words – • Service needed eg. Transport • Service Type – Taxi, • Location - Magomeni

31. Operating Mobile Phones Companies • VODACOM • AIRTEL • TIGO • Agreement with ZANTEL on IVR application and USSD is underway

32. Current Working Partners • Car Yards owners (6 in DSM) • Real Estate Companies (12 in DSM, Morogoro and Iringa) • Recruitment Agencies (3 in DSM) • Commodity Agents (45 in DSM, 3 in Morogoro, 5 in Iringa and 2 in Mbeya) • Real Estate Brokers (215 in DSM, Morogoro, Iringa and Mbeya)

33. Current Working Partners (Cont) • Transport Agencies and owners • Taxi drivers and Owners (450) • Waste water drivers and owners (23) • Clean water drivers and owners (35) • Breakdown service agents (15 in DSM)

34. Working Partners (cont) • Entertainment Programs • Facility owners (72) • Artists (38)

35. Opportunities Noted • People are exited and want to know more about Huduma Fasta • Most common people see this approach to be a good link to new markets • The framework is the 1st in Africa and probably in the World • About 20million People have access to mobile phones in Tanzania • Through Mobile Phone Companies we can access database for every Region to pass specific information

36. Challenges • Low awareness of Huduma Fasta • Cost to advertise and promote too expensive • Training of Huduma Fasta Representatives • Data collection costs • Corporate Clients speed to make decision to use the framework • Data organization and management needs high level of commitment

37. Benefits of the Huduma Fasta • Data entry could be done at the site • Human errors are minimized • People and especially farmers will be given opportunity to negotiate • Government could know about status of food quantities and prices every day in every corner of the country • Farmers will be connected to buyers directly and hence could negotiate for better prices

38. Benefits of the Huduma Fasta (Cont) • Young people may now stay in the villages as they will have access to information and outlets • Corporations like TANESCO and DAWASCO will be able to raise correct bills and improve collection strategies • Less paper works will be realized • Customer company relations will be enhanced

39. Promotional Campaign done so far • Marketing and Promotions • Brochures and leaflets • Jingles and video clips • Bus Tickets • T-shirts • Radio and TV Adverts • News papers Adverts • Website for BR Solutions and Huduma Fasta • Posters and Banners • Car branding

40. WAY FORWARD • Need More Support for Data Collection • Support for Adverts and Promotional Campaigns • Soliciting Other Organizations to use Huduma Fasta Framework • Expanding the data Collection tools to cover specific needs • Win support from Government to use the Huduma Fasta FRAMEWORK

41. WAY FORWARD (cont) • Win support from Government and promote Huduma Fasta to all her agencies, Departments • Win support of the donor community to promote use of Huduma Fasta Framework

42. Thank Youand Welcome to HUDUMA FASTA