Page 141 - AFAP Success Stories 2020

Neema Agrocentre discovered that farmers in the scheme doubt scalable to other schemes and could certainly help
lacked a reliable source of input. The discussion with to lower the cost of input and ensure reliable supply.
Mwamapuli AMACOS indicated that, although there was
a definite need for demo plots, there were also farmers
who were ready to use fertilizer but were not assured Lessons Learned
of a timely and adequate supply. Mwamapuli AMACOS Agrodealers depend on customers who enter their shops
owns warehouses that could be used to store agricultural to buy agricultural inputs – they do not generally go out to
input such as seed, fertilizer and other agrochemicals. find a market. Farmers operating in an irrigation scheme
During discussions, they reached an agreement in which are a potential market for Agrodealers, since they may
Naisae and Neema Agrocentre would supply fertilizer and not be getting agricultural input on a reliable basis. This
agrochemicals to Mwamapuli warehouses, from where scheme could be served direct by fertilizer companies or
farmers could buy directly. This lowered fertilizer prices Hub Agrodealers indefinitely as demand for input is high.
as one rural Agrodealer was removed from the supply The challenge to serve this scheme with fertilizer was
chain. This arrangement also reduced the transaction lack of capital as Naisae and Neema Agrocentre was not
costs as Naisae and Neema Agrocentre no longer needed prepared for the high impact these deals would have on
to incur storage costs nor pay salaries for a salesperson. creating demand. Despite this challenge, Naisae managed
The new partnership did not only benefit Naisae and to allocate part of his capital to serve the scheme and
Neema Agrocentre but also farmers who were obtaining the future is promising. Next season Naisae and Neema
agricultural input on time at a lower price. Agrocentre needs to be prepared with enough capital
so that it has the potential to sell more. With the credit
Impact guarantee scheme, AFAP could work with Naisae and
Neema Agrocentre to serve the irrigation scheme as
Despite the deal signed being signed a bit late Naisae and farmers buy in cash and they will be able to work with
Neema Agrocentre managed to sell a total of 160MT to credit facilities if this option is available.
the Mwamapuli Irrigation Scheme. Naisae and Neema
Agrocentre in the Mwamapuli Irrigation Scheme area
might be higher in the coming season as the centre will Partners and/or donors who supported the work:
be in a position to serve right from the beginning of the AFAP, Naisae and Neema Agrocentre and Mwamapuli
AMACOS
season. In addition, farmers in Mwamapuli benefitted
from the demo plot established in the scheme, since the Contact persons
harvest was more than twice the average yield (65 bags of Julius Anael Mshana
paddy weighting 100kg per 1.5 acre as opposed to 20 to Director – Naisae and Neema Agrocentre
25 bags weighing 100kg) using normal practices on the uliusanaeli7@gmail.com
same piece of land.
Michael Shija
If Naisae has the financial capacity to do so, he will be able
to serve this scheme and other schemes in Tabora, which Mwamapuli AMAOS
076 618 3807
Mwamapuli AMACOS warehouse do not have this arrangement. The practices without

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