Project Name: Farmers Digital Market (FDM) Project

Implementing Organization: African Centre for Environment, Energy & Climate Advocacy (ACEECA)

1. Project Summary:

The Farmers Digital Market (FDM) is a transformative digital platform developed by ACEECA to empower smallholder farmers by providing them with direct access to markets, essential agronomic information, climate-smart farming tools, and financial services. By leveraging digital innovation, the platform aims to enhance the livelihoods of farmers, reduce post-harvest losses, promote sustainable agriculture, and bridge the market access gap that has long disadvantaged rural producers.

2. Project Goal:

To enhance the livelihoods, income stability, and climate resilience of smallholder farmers by providing direct digital access to markets, agronomic support, and integrated logistics and financial services.

3. Specific Objectives:

To increase market access for smallholder farmers

• Enable farmers to list their produce online and connect directly with consumers, retailers, and exporters.
• Facilitate transparent price negotiations to ensure fair trade.

To eliminate exploitative middlemen practices

• Empower farmers with control over pricing and transactions.
• Build trust-based digital relationships between farmers and buyers.

To reduce post-harvest losses through improved logistics and storage solutions

• Partner with local transporters and warehousing services to ensure timely collection and storage of produce.
• Introduce cold chain logistics where applicable to preserve perishable goods.

To support climate-smart agriculture

• Provide timely weather forecasts and alerts through the platform.
• Disseminate information on sustainable farming practices and crop management.

To promote financial inclusion and seamless transactions

• Integrate mobile money solutions (e.g., M-Pesa) and digital wallets.
• Offer digital record-keeping and transaction histories for future credit scoring and financing.

To build digital capacity among smallholder farmers

• Conduct training sessions on digital literacy and use of the FDM platform.
• Collaborate with agricultural extension officers and local youth to support onboarding.

4. Key Features of the FDM Platform:

• Digital Market Access: Allows farmers to list products, set prices, and communicate directly with buyers.
• Reduced Middlemen Exploitation: Farmers retain more profit by eliminating brokers and selling directly.
• Climate-Smart Farming Support: Provides tailored agronomic advice, weather forecasts, and pest/disease alerts.
• Financial Inclusion: Mobile-based payments and transaction tracking promote trust and ease of doing business.
• Logistics & Storage Integration: Ensures minimal wastage through strategic partnerships with logistics and storage providers.

5. Target Beneficiaries:

• Smallholder farmers (especially women and youth) in rural and peri-urban areas.
• Farmer cooperatives and producer groups.
• Local agribusiness entrepreneurs.

6. Sustainability Strategy:

• Revenue model through transaction fees and premium services for large buyers.
• Partnerships with county governments, agri-tech companies, and financial institutions.
• Capacity building to ensure local ownership and long-term usability of the platform.