koeerü

Social Enterprise Platforms

Empowering New Generations of Farmers through Data Literacy

Koeerü’s social enterprise platforms utilize the Japan International Cooperation Agency’s SHEP methodology to connect farmers, wholesale and retail buyers, and social workers in ways that promote development through self-motivation and empowerment.

From Digital to Digital Transformation

A Data Platform Meaningful to Those New to Technology

Data platforms are often tools created for and by the data literate—those who use computers and smartphones daily in their lives. At Koeerü, we asked ourselves how we could use our data platform expertise in a way that is genuinely helpful to those furthest from Silicon Valley.

As a result of extensive testing and interviews with farmers, buyers, and social workers in Tanzania, we created a platform that utilizes SHEP methodology to promote market-oriented agriculture. This platform allows farmers to collect and share data about marketplace needs and grow crops that have a ready demand.

Making Data Collection not only Possible, but Meaningful

When technology companies work in developing countries, they often focus on the technical challenges—minimal infrastructure, no or 2G Internet, low-budgets, poor performance devices, and, oftentimes, an illiterate population. While these challenges are real, we wanted to go beyond transplanting developed country solutions to developing country farmers. Our first step was to talk to farmers to determine what their challenges were, and what technology would be meaningful for them.

“You cannot just say, this is an application for collecting agriculture data. Go and use it.”​

--Soji Nagano, Koeerü Chief Design Officer

Many existing data collection efforts use money as the principal motivator. However, this kind of external motivation is unsuitable in the long term and collapses as soon as external funding is removed. In contrast, Koeerü approaches our social enterprise projects with the goal of sustainable self-use in mind, a platform based on internalized self-motivation factors like autonomy, competence, and relatedness.

Better Data Management for Accurate Real-Time Insights

After data is collected, how do you manage and use it? Is the data collected still accurate, really reflecting the situation on the ground? Who has access to the data, and how is it used?

Increased Buy-In for Better Insights

To date, agriculture-related data in developing countries has often been collected by field officers by hand. Whether paper-based or digital, this data’s quality is often negatively affected by many factors, including human error, time lag, and a lack of depth.

By involving regular farmers and buyers in the collection and use of the data, Koeerü is not only able to vastly increase the amount of data collected, but also speed up the data collection time. Depth is achieved through widespread adoption, and real-time insights into who is growing what becomes possible.

How Does Koeerü’s Social Enterprise Platform Improve Development?

Creating a platform that solves problems is not only an issue of collection or data management. The problems that farmers and marketplace buyers currently face often relate to an inability to turn the data into action.

Koeerü’s social enterprise platforms begin by understanding the market needs of both farmers and buyers

Being able to meet the right business partner at the right time, in the right place, and with the right price will directly benefit users and can contribute to an increase of income levels—the results of which have been proven by JICA-backed studies in over 53 countries utilizing the SHEP methodology.

Want to learn more? Download our company introduction materials.

Want to see how Koeerü can benefit your organization? Please contact us to learn more.

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