Farmers in Lagos were recently brought together in Lagos by Yanfunyanfun start-up firm under one roof, which provided an opportunity for them to showcase their farm produce.
According to Trend Adams Makarios, chief executive officer of Yanfunyanfun Limited, the platform provides an efficient technology-driven system for farmers and indigenous manufacturers to gather, promote, distribute farm produce and food products.
The platform will also serve to provide access to market for them to reach consumers from the different parts of the world in real-time.
Yanfunyanfun is a farm product aggregation, promotion and distribution system that aggregates farm products.
It promotes indigenous manufacturers and offers food subscription service whereby consumers get to subscribe for food the way people subscribe to pay-TV or payphones.
Makarios said that what stirred his interest in setting up Yanfunynfun while in his 20s was that he discovered that over time, he became concerned over how people imports virtually everything, including eggs.
“This made me curious, so I started making inquiries and it was so sad because I found out that it was true. And I could not imagine that as big as Nigeria is, we are still importing eggs. My knowledge of this brought me to the conclusion that Nigeria can cater for herself because we have the manpower and the land but no support system. This is why I came up with Yanfunyanfun, an online platform that aggregates farm produce and Nigerian food products from every part of Nigeria,” Makarios said.
Asked if he took into consideration the level of education of some of the farmers, he said, “That is why we start from the basics to the complex by attending to a farmer who doesn’t know how to use a mobile phone to the one who knows how to use a phone that is internet enabled.”
The platform, he said, supports farmers that do not know about technology to the one who does, with the use of the USSD and ‘call-me-back’ functions.
On the non-availability of storage facilities in the country, which is key to the preservation of most perishable farm produce from getting spoilt even before getting to the consumer, the company boss affirmed that the online platform addresses issues from the consumer to the retailer, to the manufacturer, back to the aggregator, and then to the farmer.
“It is a full circle support system that gets everybody involved. We arrange it in such a way that products that are perishable will get to consumers who are on demand.
“But when products are requested on a large scale, then we will be able to reach as the demand comes. For an example, if we have a demand for a ton of pepper, which is perishable, we will be able to get the products delivered because we already have the demand for it,” he said.
This subscription will also be weekly or monthly with different packages of fresh farm produce, he said.
“That is why we rely more on government agencies that ensure the quality of food that goes out to the consumer. And that is why we can guarantee. Farmers on our platform have access to finance, support services and access to innovative technology for agriculture. So, as a farmer, when you come on our platform, you are an active demand market.”
At the harvest period, the firm provides a linkage between the farm produce, and the final consumers who are in need of this farm produce.
“You just need to let us know through the platform and we will make sure that you have income with all the modalities you may require to be able to meet up with the demand,”. Makarios concluded.
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