Deriving Value Through Mo’Agro

We believe that creating a mobile money shop at washing stations will create immediate value for farmers and encourage the acceptance of some or all of their harvest payment in mobile money.

What We Heard: The Farmer's Voice

In January we tested Mo’Agro at two washing stations (Gibuzale and Kapchorwa). The shops were set up in locations visible and accessible to farmers and run in cooperation with KCL and local direct sales team agents. Over three days of testing, we iterated on product mix and ran price sensitivity experiments.

  • "The transaction was so simple.
I added the money, it went into my account, I paid for my purchase and I received my product. Being here (the Mo’Agro Store) made it easy, quick and saved me time.” —Milton, Farmer
  • “Round trip travel to the market costs me 14,000 UGX. If the product was discounted, I’d take some of my coffee payment in mobile money to make purchases [from Mo'Agro].” —Felix, Farmer

Imagine

A shop branded Mo’Agro which is operated by KCL and local merchant or mobile money agent at coffee washing stations that accepts mobile money for basic necessities, agricultural inputs and hard to find items.

Design Principles

  • 1

    Build Trust Quickly

    Establish legitimacy and ensure a smooth transactional experience by hiring trusted local staff and by maintaining a well-organized shop that is consistently clear about fees and pricing.

  • 2

    Create an Engaging Space

    Design an open-plan layout to encourage browsing and buying, and offer space outside to encourage community gatherings.

  • 3

    Transcend the Transactional

    Offer a rotating stock of novelty, specialty, and seasonal items along with on-site games and entertainment in a social setting that will surprise and delight.

  • 4

    Pay Attention and Adapt

    Accommodate clientele by changing product offerings, prices, an the space itself to suit their needs.

Designing the Experience

Location & Staff

Mo’Agro will be located near or on KCL property. Farmers will have easy access to the shop after their transactions take place saving them transportation cost and time. Trust and legitimacy will be built by having the store close to the washing station and by co-branding with KCL.

Build trust in the community by hiring a local, high-quality, professional merchant to run Mo’Agro.

Modular Elements

Cabinets and carts can serve as both displays for day use and storage at night. Using hooks, baskets and peg-boards to organize products allows the products to be rearranged for the needs of the store.

By adding wheels to furniture, it can be easily adjust and adapt to the needs of the shop. They also allows for easier storage and clean-up at the end of the day.

Use barrels and buckets to act as both storage and seating for customers. Having seating makes Mo’Agro a warm and welcoming place.

The Mo'Agro Brand

The Mo’Agro brand is honest, optimistic, bold, and friendly. When applied, the brand will make the store memorable, exciting and give the consumer confidence in the store’s legitimacy. The bold and friendly logo combined with the bright, optimistic color palette adds to the delight of the experience.

The Mo’Agro brand utilizes simple iconography to reinforce the shop’s core value of helping farmers grow and support their farm, family, and home.

The Leaf should be applied to any assets or products that are farm or agriculturally related. The Heart is applied to items related to the family and the House is applied to any items related to the home. Using icons to communicate offerings helps organize the shop and gives structure to the variety of products the store offers.

The Service

The key to building trust is communication and transparency around pricing and fees associated with purchases. This will be accomplished with a Mo’Agro price tag that provides the product price, transaction fee, and total. Additionally Mo’Agro will post a visible and easy to read mobile money fee list with the latest fee information. Finally, a receipt will be provided with each transaction.

The Mo’Agro product mix will consist of products for the farm, family and home. The stock will be a mix of basic necessities (ex. rice, sugar, salt, soap, cooking oil) and agricultural items (ex. farming tools and fertilizer). The shop will also offer a rotating stock of seasonal items and introduce customers to products that will surprise and delight.

When, Where, & How

  • Harvest Season

    The main operating period for Mo’Agro will be during the harvest season when farmers are routinely visiting the washing station.

  • Bonus Season

    Mo’Agro will also be open when farmers visit the washing station to receive their profit sharing bonus from KCL.

Applying Guiding Principles

Build Trust

Recruiting local community members to run the Mo’Agro shop and leveraging KCL’s brand halo will build off of preexisting trust in their community and KCL.

Be Accessible

By conveniently locating the Mo’Agro market outside of the washing station, farmers will be saved the time and hassle of traveling to their local markets.

Offer Quick Wins

Mo’Agro provides an immediate outlet for farmers to generate value out of mobile money, and a safe environment where they can learn how to use it to pay for goods and services

Looking Ahead

TODAY

Working with KCL

The Mo’Agro concept will be prototyped during the coffee harvest season in July 2017, at two washing stations that KCL and IDEO.org have selected. Appropriate Mo’Agro operators such as local mobile money agents, or local merchants will run and manage the store. To inform ongoing iteration and improvements we will track the success of the business model and capture additional insights regard its impact on farmers.

TOMORROW

Mo’Agro Mobile Money Payment Center

Mo’Agro Mobile Money Payment Center: In addition to selling necessities and agricultural products, the Mo’Agro Mobile Money payment center will assist and facilitate mobile money payments for other items and services (ex. utilities, school fees, church tithes, etc). The store will maintain an up-to-date list of mobile money use cases and educate farmers on how to make P2P payments for these use cases.

Mo’Agro On the Go

This traveling Mo’Agro shop will move from one washing station to another, depending on farmer demand. This portable market will be designed to pack up easily and transport goods from one washing station to another. Farmers will be notified in advance of Mo’Agro Mobile Markets schedule and whereabouts.

Mo’Agro Business Apprenticeship

In partnership with Financial Planning, this apprenticeship program will be offered for farmers interested in learning how to run a business. Farmers will periodically assist a Mo’Agro operator with operations and management of the store, and in return the Mo’Agro operator will educate the farmer on best business practices and bookkeeping.

Explore concepts in the ecosystem

  • Guiding Growth Through Financial Planning

    An interactive and visual financial planning service. his benefit will help farmers set goals, budget, and save, while highlighting how mobile money can be used as a tool to accomplish these objectives.

  • Delivering Mobile Money Through Improved Payments

    A tablet application which improves the mobile money payments process by simplifying it. More intuitive UX design, quicker payment speed thanks to mobile data connectivity, and streamlined KCL staff workflow will make this a more effective tool.