ABUJA, Nigeria — Hello Tractor is a start-up company connecting small rural farmers with hard labor services. Jehiel Oliver is the developer of the Smart Tractor, a two-wheeled engine with GPS and internet connections in places with low internet capabilities.
This tractor can be purchased using Hello Tractor’s text messaging system that processes payment through the cloud.
Agriculture makes up 20.2 percent of Nigeria’s GDP. About 79.1 percent of Nigeria has cultivatable land, but the country ranks 132 out of 188 countries that use modernized agricultural technology. In fact, there are only 6.6 tractors every 100 square kilometers of arable land according to World Bank.
There are 35 million small farmers in Nigeria. Oliver recognized Africa’s untapped potential and what injustices face rural farmers. Gender biases and small wages need to be overcome with new, innovative practices.
About 28 million small farmers in Nigeria need to purchase labor from outside the farm. This demand is too massive for labor to be readily available or even affordable. Farmers often need to wait to grow and yield crops, which is a waste of time and land. Money is lost because of the hassle.
Purchasing a tractor is not the most economical solution. The amount of land owned by a single farmer is usually too small to need a tractor. Though that would hasten the process, there is still not enough to support a wage that could pay back a loan for a $3,500 tractor.
On top of the cost, Nigeria has a 30 percent interest rate. With only a year to pay back the loan, it makes no sense to purchase the machinery.
Working originally as a global finance consultant with a concentration in SMEs and agriculture companies, Oliver decided a commercial approach would reach low-income farmers in Africa. For six months, he constructed and polished his idea until his outreach was so promising he quit his job. He works full time as a CEO of Hello Tractor.
Since its launch in 2014, Hello Tractor has seen crop yield increase by 200 percent. It is 40 times faster than regular labor.
When a farmer needs a field plowed, he or she sends a text message through Hello Tractor’s mobile application. He or she uses a mobile cash exchange system to purchase a tractor. It automatically picks a Smart Tractor that is closest to the recipient, and the tractor soon arrives to do the job.
Usually, the owner of the tractor is paid $75 every hectare, but that’s one third the cost of manual labor. The owner of the Smart Tractor can make about $25 after purchasing fuel, maintenance costs, repair costs and loan repayment.
Without a tractor, the owner would have only made $5, and the amount of time spent laboring might be unbearable to think about.
Hello Tractor eliminates a factor that fastens lower income among farmers. When farmers send a text for a Smart Tractor, there’s no knowing whether or not the owner is a woman. Since the service is so vital, who would deny a woman to do the job?
Oliver agrees negative stereotypes toward women in Nigeria create poverty. Women yield 20 to 30 percent less than men’s crop. This is not because of lack of knowledge. They have a lack of access to land, equipment and credit. Women are least likely to acquire off-farm labor services.
Women cannot utilize enough of their land to make a proper income. They cannot hire services if they had a chance. Women have more condensed living spaces, have a lack of help, and are most likely to have children to oversee.
The cycle is endless and keeps women in poverty. Oliver is determined to empower women with these Smart Tractors so their access to resources may flourish.
What was once thought to be an uneconomical investment is now the most innovative way to yield crops and earn an income with little costs. This start-up, smart-technology enterprise is only a year old but made its debut at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Kenya where Oliver met President Barack Obama.
– Katie Groe
Sources: TakePart, USAID, Daily Nation, World Bank 1, World Bank 2, World Bank 3
Photo: Flickr