From start to finish: a vision of interconnectivity

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At the moment, the agricultural industries of African countries exist in relative isolation. Imagine peasant farmers digitally connected to the value chains of the global food industry. How could this happen? A guidebook.

 

Ich bin ein Alternativtext
Baden-Württemberg, Waldenbuch: "Ritter Sport" is one of Germany`s biggest confectioners. Photo: Christoph Püschner/Agentur Zeitenspiegel

By Tanja Reith

Tanja Reith is a solution manager for the Agribusiness vertical in the SAP Industries organization. She has over 20 years of experience in go-to-market and solution management roles for enterprise software, engaging closely with customers and partners across different industries such as agribusiness, consumer products, and financial services. Tanja’s ambition is to drive shared value resulting in business value to our customers while making a social impact and improving people’s lives.

All contributions

 

When eating their chocolate bar in the afternoon, maybe together with a cup of coffee, people always tasted and enjoyed the flavor of both, but they usually did not think about the origin of the cocoa or coffee beans. Where and how were the beans harvested? How did they make their way from a cocoa plant in e. g. Ivory Coast to the supermarket shelf in Berlin? Did the farmers who originally planted the trees and harvested the fruit get a fair price? Can we be sure that children did not suffer from spending their time in unpaid harvesting work instead of going to school? This has changed: more and more socially conscious end consumers are looking for answers to these questions and consider respective certifications when they buy their preferred brand.

 

70 percent of the global cocoa produce comes from West Africa, mainly Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana.

 

This change in end consumer behavior is a key driver for consumer goods companies to increase the transparency and traceability of their food products – even across company boundaries. Let’s stay for a moment with the chocolate example: 80% to 90% of the world cocoa production comes from 5 to 6 million smallholder farms. 70% of the global cocoa produce comes from West Africa, mainly Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana. How can chocolate producers and consumer products brands obtain visibility and prove that the ingredients in their products are a result of sustainable farming and certified? How can they connect with smallholders being the very first supplier in their agricultural supply chain and integrate them into the value chain?

 

To help address this challenge SAP launched in 2017 SAP Rural Sourcing Management, a mobile technology solution supporting and growing smallholder famers in developing countries connecting them with global producers and providing transparency, accountability, and access to financial services. A predecessor of the solution was developed and piloted by an SAP research division, in a development partnership with the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. The project was conducted under the framework of the develoPPP.de program on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). As a next step SAP and Barry Callebaut, the world’s leading manufacturer of high-quality chocolate and cocoa products, cooperated in a custom-development project helping Barry Callebaut enable sustainable cocoa farming, before the solution finally became generally available.

 

(c) Foto SAP
Tedious work of harvesting, Photo: SAP

SAP Rural Sourcing Management is a cloud-based solution for enhanced management of sustainability data through digitally recorded information on producers, their farms, and their communities at every level of the value chain. Field agents collect data on farmer registration, purchasing and processing of produce, and transportation records. These field agents can work for local cooperatives, local or regional producers but also global traders or producers who want to directly connect with the smallholder farmers as their original source of agricultural commodities. Now how can the SAP Rural Sourcing Management solution help smallholder farmers to connect with the value chain of agricultural commodities and what is the related (social) impact?

 

The app also allows the integration to cashless payments, as well as access to information about the transactions.

 

Let’s look at the example of Kalangala Oil Palm Growers Trust, one of our customers in Uganda representing smallholder oil palm growers in Kalangala district in Lake Victoria. Deliveries of fresh palm oil fruit bunches are recorded by an employee using a registered smartphone. The confirmation of delivery and payment can then be sent to the farmer’s private phone by SMS. The app also allows the integration to cashless payments, as well as access to information about the transactions. The organization can simplify its administration processes and tremendously increase its data availability and accuracy. This will help to cut administration . In addition to the direct business impact for the organization, the project also opens smallholder farmers the doors to financial institutions allowing access to agricultural input loans or financial services including . Banks and insurance companies are starting to use data recorded by the app as a “track record” and proof of income. Input loans such as seed and fertilizer will help smallholder farmers to increase yield and with that achieve a higher and secured income enabling them to pay school for their children and improving their livelihoods.

 

SAP is supporting the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals across the 25 industries that SAP is serving. For the agribusiness industry, UNSDG #2 Zero Hunger seems like a big goal, especially as experts estimate food production must grow by 70 percent to feed 2.2 billion more mouths by 2050. SAP offers a designated solution portfolio for this industry and SAP Rural Sourcing Management is one of these solutions. SAP agribusiness solutions are designed to help our customers in different segments and different geographies to increase sustainability as well as food safety and food security. The solutions help to carefully manage the entire food supply chain from farm to consumer with the support of new digital technologies, such as blockchain, artificial intelligence or machine learning.

 

Here is an example how cutting-edge block chain technology can improve transparency and food safety and at the same time help e. g. fishermen in Indonesia to improve their incomes and lives: One of the largest seafood companies and SAP customer Bumble Bee Foods, provides seamless transparency for their tuna products, from the handline on the boat to the plate of the consumer. Bumble Bee’s consumer app links the individual tuna can with essential information about species, population size and associated quota allowance, catch method, potential by catch, and whether the fisher is even Fair Trade Certified. Stories about community engagements, book donations, or providing safety equipment offer insights into how this type of sustainable supplier engagement creates positive social impact for the local villages. Since 90 percent of the capture fisheries comes from small-scale fishers, Bumble Bee allows consumers to buy the impact they want to make.

 

These are just a few examples how in a digitized world, enterprises are connected with every part of their supply chain – up to smallholder farmers in developing countries reaching the bottom of the pyramid. If you want to learn more about SAP agribusiness solutions or SAP Rural Sourcing Management, you can find more information on www.sap.com or contact agribusiness@sap.com.

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The oceans are important for our food supply, but they are overfished. To halt this trend the global community is now taking action against illegal fishing. Journalist Jan Rübel spoke with Francesco Marí, a specialist for world food, agricultural trade and maritime policy at "Brot für die Welt," and others.

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Controversy: Do supply chains need liability rules?

Discussion about the potential supply chain law

The German government is struggling to pass a supply chain law. It is intended to address violations of human rights, social and environmental standards. What would the consequences be for business? A double interview with Veselina Vasileva from GEPA and economics professor Andreas Freytag.

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Agricultural prices and food security – a complex relationship

A Contribution by Dr. Fatima Olanike Kareem and Dr. Olayinka Idowu Kareem

High agricultural prices affect developed and developing countries alike, but the problem is aggravated for the latter through the lack of or inadequate resilience measures. Dr. Fatima Olanike Kareem, AKADEMIYA2063, and Dr. Olayinka Idowu Kareem, University of Hohenheim, explain what can be done to mitigate the negative effects on food security.

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Earth’s well, all’s well!

A Contribution by Fairtrade Germany

With the annual topic "Earth’s well, all’s well!", Fairtrade Germany is focusing on the concept of agroecology at all levels - and is thus taking the next step towards achieving greater global sustainability. At the Green Week trade fair, Fairtrade Germany will show how this can be achieved taking the cocoa supply chain as an example.

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How does the ALDI SOUTH Group buy, Mrs Roach?

A Conversation with Sally Roach

Many of ALDI SOUTH Group supply chains begin in the Global South. How does the food retailer assume its responsibility? Questions for Sally Roach, Senior Manager - International Sustainability Department at the ALDI SOUTH Group.

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© GIZ

Ideas on the ground: Local solutions for global challenges

Interview with Sebastian Lesch (BMZ)

A world without hunger and with sufficient healthy food as well as climate-friendly agriculture can only be achieved if ideas are transformed into innovations and ultimately also applied - a conversation with BMZ Head of Division Sebastian Lesch on the Innovation Challenge programme of the new Agricultural Innovation Fund.

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(c) Thomas Trutschel/BMEL/photothek

Rethinking funding

By Anna Sophia Rainer

Peasant farmers tend to fail due to bank credit limits. But investment could help them generate a sustainable income. This has given rise to an intense discussion about potential digital solutions.

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(c) Welthungerhilfe

5 questions to S. Fan: Where are the new roads?

Interview with Shenggen Fan

Shortly before ending his position as Director General of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPR) Dr. Shenggen Fan talks about the reforms and new modes of operation needed to achieve global food security in the coming decade.

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Turning many into one: CGIAR network restructures

A contribution by Jan Rübel

International agricultural research is responding to new challenges: Their advisory group is undergoing a fundamental reform process and unites knowledge, partnerships and physical assets into OneCGIAR.

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(c) Joerg Boethling/GIZ

What it takes now

A contribution by Heike Baumüller

Artificial intelligence, big data and blockchain are the hottest topics of our time. The digital transformation of the African agricultural sector is ready for take-off. What will it take for the future of technology to hit the ground running?

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(c) Katapult/GIZ

The digitised farmyard

An interactive graphic Jan Rübel

Lots of apps are entering the market, but what really makes sense? For African agriculture, some of it seems like a gimmick, some like a real step forward. So this is what a smallholder farm in Africa could look like today - with the help of smartphones, internet and electricity. 

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(c) Joerg Boethling/GIZ

"We are not Uber for tractors"

Interview with Jehiel Oliver

Jehiel Oliver was a successful consultant. One day, he quit his job in investment banking to become a social entrepreneur. His mission: tractors for Africa. Rental tractors. What gave him that idea? Find out in his interview with Jan Rübel.

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Video diaries in the days of Corona: Voices from the ground

A contribution by Sarah D´haen & Alexander Müller, Louisa Nelle, Bruno St. Jaques, Sarah Kirangu-Wissler and Matteo Lattanzi (TMG)

Young farmers’ insights on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on food systems in Sub-Saharan Africa @CovidFoodFuture and video diaries from Nairobi’s informal settlements.

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(c) Klara Palatova/WFP

A global signpost: What way is the market, please?

A contribution by the World Food Programme

There is a clear global task: We need to feed nine billion people by 2050. We, the people of Earth, must produce more food and waste less. That is the top priority of the UN World Food Programme (WFP), too - the description of a challenge.

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Karel Prinsloo/Arete/Rockefeller Foundation/AGRA

"Nutrition is a human right"

Interview with Joe DeVries (AGRA)

Joe DeVries is a breeder – and Vice President of AGRA (Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa). What are the chances and risks of a ’green revolution‘ in Africa? A discourse between Jan Rübel and him about productivity, needs, and paternalism.

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Silicon Valley for Africa’s agricultural start-ups

A contribution by Michel Bernhardt (GIZ)

The project “Scaling digital agriculture innovations through start-ups” (SAIS) supports Africans going into business in the agricultural and food sector in scaling their digital innovations and thus reaching out to a larger number of users.

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Innovations for a secure food supply

A contribution by German Agribusiness Alliance

The COVID 19 pandemic is hitting developing and emerging countries and their poorest populations particularly hard. It is important to take countermeasures at an early stage. Companies in the German agricultural sector want to make their contribution to ensuring the availability of urgently needed operating resources.

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(c) Michael Bruentrup/DIE

News from the starting block: Changeover

A contribution by Michael Brüntrup (DIE)

The region of Sub-Saharan Africa is on the decisive verge of a great development boost in farming: it could skip entire generations of technological development. But how? About possible roles and potentials of digital services.

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Joerg Boethling/GIZ

"The Green Revolution reaches its limits"

Interview with Stig Tanzmann (BfdW)

Stig Tanzmann is a farmer and adviser on agricultural issues at ‘Bread for the World’. Jan Rübel interviewed him about his reservations about AGRA's strategy.

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(c) Christoph Mohr/GIZ

Microinsurance against climate change

A contribution by Claudia Voß

Climate change is destroying development progress in many places. The clever interaction of digitalisation and the insurance industry protects affected small farmers.

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Empowering farmers to control their own data

A contribution by GIZ

A new study on the digitalisation of agriculture puts farmers back at the centre of their own sector, identifies market gaps and gives recommendations on how to support relevant actors.

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Cotton of the Future

A Contribution by GIZ

VR glasses are hardly a conventional tool in agriculture: for the past three years, they have been used in rural areas of Burkina Faso and Cameroon as a training tool for sustainable cotton cultivation.

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Ebay Against Hunger - How an App Supports Crop Sale of Rural Small Holders in Zambia

Small holders around the world are often forced to sell their harvests below market value due to a lack of market and pricing information. A new app by the UN World Food Programme (WFP) is going to change this.

A project of WFP

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Africa's digital disruption

Graphics

What Africa is experiencing in the course of digitisation is a disruption. Here three steps are taken in one, there you remain. In any case, the changes are enormous and bring some surprises. A graphic walk.

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