Fascinated with the inner workings of the food industry, business analyst James Mavundla launched Agrowex, an app that aims to connect, support and empower farmers, food producers and agri-entrepreneurs.
Mavundla discovered a startling truth that while 100% of the country’s produce comes from the soil, 70% reaches the market and nearly 30% of it is lost to spoilage, poor quality or simply a lack of access to markets.
Driven by a vision to change this, he set out to build more than an app. His aim was to cultivate a thriving, interconnected environment where food businesses across the continent could flourish.
Mavundla told Vutivi News that food traceability was the biggest issue in the informal market where there were poisonous products whose origins could not be traced.
“Our system can trace back where the product comes from, who is the farmer, which field and what inputs were used. It can recall the entire production batch,” said Mavundla.
He further highlighted that although there were more than 2.5 million smallholder producers in the country, not even 20% were supplying the mainstream market.
“We have about 350,000 commercial farmers that have access to the big market. The research that we have done shows most of these smallholder farmers have been subsistence farmers for generation and generation. They have the land, but you will be shocked that farmers with 100ha only use 5ha because they have no market,” he said.
When a user registers on the platform, the app creates a digital profile that tells how much access to land they have, the type of equipment they utilise and what soil analysis has been conducted.
“There is an AI model that uses all information to interpret on our side to say there is potential on this farm to become a commercial farmer. It also gives us a road map of the farmer, like what level is the farmer, training to do, which compliance is needed, and infrastructure and it also goes further and proposes a business plan that can be used for funding. It can also tell when is the planting and harvesting season,” explained Mavundla.
“We have digitised from sourcing your input to the delivery of your product at the doorstep.”
Mavundla said developing the platform came with its own challenges.
“It is not cheap, it requires a number of skills like project manager, designer and business analyst. We have knocked on different doors for funding with no luck.
“Therefore, we chose to start trading in the commodity space of green beans and red spiracle beans. At some stage, the project was stopped due to lack of funds. Self-funding has taught me that Agrowex industry is the right journey for food security,” he said.
George Madzivanyika, founder of Oasis Connect Farm in Midrand, told Vutivi News that the app was a game-changing solution to some of the most pressing challenges in the agricultural sector, particularly funding and market access.
“I believe Agrowex will not only bridge the gap between small-scale farmers and financial opportunities, but also provide a dynamic platform for reaching broader markets,” said Madzivanyika.
He is gearing up to integrate the app into his operations to increase his market reach and grow his farming enterprise.
