Análisis del modelo de negocio phygital de Lersha: oportunidades de crecimiento mediante paquetes inteligentes para mujeres agricultoras

Lersha es una plataforma digital de servicios agrícolas con agentes, operada por Green Agro Solution PLC. Su objetivo es convertirse en un mercado integral que conecte a los pequeños agricultores etíopes, incluidas las mujeres agricultoras, con una amplia gama de servicios agrícolas, financieros y de mercado.

A través de su red de más de 2.500 agentes locales, aplicaciones móviles y centros de llamadas multilingües, Lersha conecta a los agricultores con:

• High-quality inputs such as seeds, fertilizers, and agrochemicals
• Mechanization services including ploughing, irrigation, and harvesting
  
• Access to finance, including short-term input loans and insurance solutions
  
• Climate-smart advisory services, such as weather alerts and agronomy guidance
  
• Market linkages, including offtake agreements and aggregated sales to buyers
  

La plataforma está activa en seis regiones de Etiopía y se está expandiendo a Kenia y Uganda.

El modelo de negocio de Lersha se basa en tres pilares clave:

1. A bundled service offering tailored to farmers’ needs
2. A commission-based agent network
   
3. A digital ecosystem of interconnected applications and dashboards that enable data-driven service delivery
   

La producción de hortalizas en Etiopía está liderada principalmente por pequeños agricultores, que cultivan un promedio de 0,125 hectáreas. Las mujeres representan alrededor del 40% de los productores de hortalizas. Sin embargo, las agricultoras suelen obtener rendimientos entre un 30% y un 40% inferiores a los de los hombres y se enfrentan a limitaciones como el acceso limitado a insumos de calidad, elevadas pérdidas poscosecha estimadas en un 30%-40% y un acceso limitado a financiación y servicios de asesoramiento.

El Análisis de Negocios Inclusivos destaca varias conclusiones clave:

1. Women represent 28% of Lersha’s active users, despite accounting for 19% of total registered farmers, indicating relatively strong engagement among registered women farmers.
2. Women farmers particularly value market linkages and advisory services, followed by information services. Access to quality seeds and fertilizers is also recognized as important to improving productivity.
   
3. Based on the analysis, farmers using Lersha’s bundled services could achieve yield increases of 10-20% for crops such as cabbage, potato, tomato, and onion. Improved and timely market linkages could reduce post-harvest losses from approximately 35% to 20%. Combined, these improvements could increase farmers’ marketable surplus by around 40%. In the case of cabbage cultivation, this translates into a potential 2.5 times increase in net income per season, equivalent to approximately USD 82. Coupling credit with market linkages can also contribute to smoother cash flows throughout the year and reduce reliance on savings.
   
4. The analysis further suggests that vegetable value chains can be commercially attractive for Lersha. Compared to staple crops, vegetables typically involve two to three crop cycles per year, generating higher potential revenue per farmer. Increased farmer engagement combined with commission income through strong market linkages could contribute significantly to Lersha’s future revenue growth.
   
5. The IBA also identifies opportunities to strengthen logistics for market linkage, develop crop-specific risk assessment approaches, test agent retention measures, and design tailored solutions for women farmers, such as savings products and climate insurance linked to weather indicators.