Work (Mark)
So we just got back from Nairobi from four days of work in the office. Our
goal was to get a better idea of what we are doing and how to go about
achieving it. We spent the majority of the time flowcharting how each
"actor" will operate within the system.
The software development company that is developing this system needed to
get some answers about how certain processes worked in the system, so they
sat in for the first morning session. It turned into a grueling and
fruitless discussion that thankfully ended at lunch time. The software
developers were looking for specific details but the executive director
could only explain things in the big picture. Realizing that we were
probably confusing the developers we sent them home and spent the rest of
the afternoon trying to answer the questions they left us. Unfortunately we
never were able to get away from the big picture and down to details, so we
were no closer to answer the developer's (or our) questions on how the
system would work.
The next morning we decided that we would try and update the old manual.
This would in turn help clarify questions and provide details that the
software developers could use. We ended up spending the whole morning and
didn't get past the first page of the manual.
It was fairly evident that we didn't have a good enough idea of the how
things flowed. We decided that what we needed to do was to flow chart all of
the actors interaction with the system, so that's what we ended up doing for
the next two days. It ended up being the best thing we've done so far. It
got us all onto one page as far as how things would work, and it quickly
pointed out where we still had details to work out.
Although there are plans to extend the system in the future, currently we
are only working with one product (sunflower seeds) and one buyer (Bidco,
www.bidco-oil.com ), and hopefully one microfinance (Opportunity
International). We and our alliance partners (Bidco and OI) recruit farmers
that are in self-help groups that are registered with the government. These
groups are evaluated by the microfinance for risk and, if approved, are
allowed to join the DrumNet system. When they join they sign a contract with
the buyer to provide a certain amount of sunflower seeds to Bidco in
exchange for a guaranteed price. They will receive a line of credit through
the microfinance which will allow them to purchase inputs (seeds and
fertilizer) through the certified stockist. The group will have elected a TA
(transaction agent) who will report to the DrumNet system on information
regarding the crop (planting date/amount, harvest date, etc). This will
allow the buyer to be better prepared for the upcoming harvest. The buyer
will know about all of their farmer groups and will alert each group to
bring their seeds to a central location for pickup. After pickup, the Buyer
will pay DrumNet (for the transaction fee) and the microfinance for the
value of the seeds. The microfinance then takes out the principle and
interest for the line of credit and passes the rest on to the farmer. This
eliminates many middlemen that are currently in the system as the buyer is
directly connected to the farmer and it also guarantees the farmer a good
price (sometimes more than double what they get now). So.this is all more
technical than some of you care about, and not enough information for
others. If you'd like more details, we'd be happy to provide them, just let
us know..we don't want to bore everyone! Also, we've attached a link to the
flow charts we created for those business-minded people.
(http://www.steudel.org/FlowCharts)