Mobile Aggregation Centres

Address gender inequalities: For farmers, especially women, reduced market distance and access to drying services can free up time for other activities, often enabling them to pursue additional income-generating opportunities.

Increase climate resilience: By helping to protect crop quality and reduce post-harvest losses, MACs support a more stable and reliable supply of produce to markets, even under challenging climate conditions.

Increase farmer income: The use of storage solutions and drying technologies through MACs can help reduce post-harvest losses and improve farmer incomes. Timely storage may lower produce rejection rates. Additionally, MAC operators, often selected from within farming communities, have the opportunity to earn commissions based on the volume of produce aggregated and the use of additional services, such as drying technologies.

Improve market access: By aggregating produce closer to farmers, MACs enhance their access to markets, eliminating the need for long-distance travel or uncertainty about available buyers. Farmers may prefer selling through MACs over brokers due to the trust and timely selling opportunities they can provide.

Increase revenues: Mobile aggregation centers can lead to higher sourcing volumes and a notable reduction in rejection rates, both of which can drive increased revenue generation. Sourcing costs can also be reduced as the MAC eliminates the need for renting and maintaining storage facilities, hiring security, and cutting expenses associated with loading, offloading, and logistics management.

Reduce side-selling: The transparency provided by the digital scale can strengthen relationships with farmers, fostering greater loyalty. MACs bring collection points closer to farmers, issue receipts, enable more timely payments, and provide storage for farmers’ produce. These factors can further reduce the likelihood of farmers seeking alternative markets.

Strengthen organisational processes: Digital weighing scales and mobile payment solutions used during procurement can enhance transparency and strengthen the security of payments to farmers.

Improve sourcing efficiency: Sourcing efficiency gains can arise when relying on own transport to collect produce from scattered farmers lacking nearby aggregation facilities. The use of MACs can lead to reduced sourcing costs by eliminating the need for renting and maintaining storage facilities, hiring security, and lowering expenses related to loading, offloading, and logistics management. These improvements can streamline operations and reduce overall costs.

Address sourcing needs: Nearby storage and market access can reduce farmers' dependence on brokers, which may lead them to prefer selling to the company. The use of aggregation centers can also increase sourcing volumes, partly due to lower post-harvest losses, as well as a reduction in rejection rates. Additionally, MAC operators, if trained in quality assurance, can contribute to high quality standards.