Kitovu is Africa’s premier technology hub solving problems in the Agricultural Value Chain. Our vision is to create, package and deploy value across Africa’s agricultural value chains by leveraging on technology to address problems unique to that sector. Our flagship product is KITOVU™.

KITOVU™ is a farmer centric mobile application package that uses data from an online database it interacts with to address the problems of excess food wastage and post-harvest losses by linking farmers to end users, the quantity of farm produce they need, their location and their buying price. It uses reliable multi-platform compatible mobile application to create market access for farmers at no cost while providing quality raw materials and fresh produce to end users hassle free!

Manufacturers and end users of agricultural produce are saved the headache of having to run helter-skelter in search of quality raw materials. This also solves the problem of traceability as the farmer’s location, crops planted, afflatoxin and toxicity levels of the farm would be well captured. KITOVU™ would also serve as an information hub for farmers, providing research, extension services, and policy frameworks set by the government. As a result, Post-harvest losses and wastage, Lack of traceability of farm produce, Lack of farm financing, Multiple Taxation, Challenge in dissemination of information and new research to farmers; all challenges that plaque Africa’s Agriculture, would be mitigated.

Whereas other solutions seek to bring the farmer to the market, we are disrupting the market by bringing the market to the farmer by providing a platform where the entire farmer has to do is grow crops and not have to add the hassles of marketing and logistics.

Market Opportunity

KITOVU™ would first be deployed in Nigeria, before we scale across Africa. Over 70% of Nigerians are farmers. That is about 121 million Nigerians alone who are gainfully employed in the agricultural sector, and who KITOVU™ can potentially serve.

KITOVU™ would be able to reach about 22.9 million farmers with compatible phones to carry the KITOVU™ mobile application.

As at present, several farmers find it difficult to sell their produce, leading to post harvest losses and wastage. According to Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), Africa loses food valued at $4 Billion dollars annually to post harvest losses. Narrowing down to Nigeria, she loses 40% of all agricultural produce to wastage and post-harvest losses. All these are as a result of an absence of market access and lowered visibility of farms. Manufacturers on the other hand find it difficult to access raw materials, sometimes having to suffer factory downtime as a result of shortage of raw materials.

It is this huge gap in the market, with huge potentials to scale across Africa that Kitovu Limited seeks to mind.

Competitive Advantage

Our major competition comes from local produce/commodity marketers; online produce marketers like ngex.com, alibaba.com, connect-ng.com, and agronigeria.com.ng. However, our approach is completely disruptive and differentiated from every other model in place in that they help bring the farmers to the market, but Kitovu brings the market to the farmers. Besides, despite their best efforts, market access is lacking and continually leads to huge post-harvest losses. They are also unable to provide the vast Agricultural Value Added Services we provide, like access to information, farm financing.

Sales and Marketing Strategy

Our strategy to not only spread in a short while, but to replicate our model across Africa is twofold; we would give out Kitovu to farmers for free in every location while working with farmers organizations so as to easily communicate the

benefits of the solution to farmers easier, for faster adoption. We would also liaise with the Federal ministry of Agriculture, research institutes as well as manufacturers looking for better ways to solve high quality produce.

We would also adopt a one locality at a time implementation plan, to enable us to be thorough and give end users ease who we would reach through:

Social media platforms

Town Hall Meetings

Engagements through Farmers organizations like All Farmers Association of Nigeria

Extension Visits

Partnerships with the State and Federal Ministries of Agriculture

Social and/or Environmental Impact

According to Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), Africa loses food valued at $4 Billion dollars annually to post harvest losses. Narrowing down to Nigeria, she loses 40% of all agricultural produce to wastage and post-harvest losses.

Kitovu would address post-harvest losses and wastage, the traceability of produce which would lead to increased income for farmers from sales of produce which would otherwise have wasted. This would eventually have a multiplier effect on the agricultural value chains of Africa by strengthening food security, thereby militating against extreme poverty and hunger while transforming Africa into the hub that feeds the world.