Ebagropamoja is providing a “one-stop shop” cloud of services like advisory/extension, financial intermediation, standardization enforcement among others as well as information on markets – both supply & demand markets – all critical in establishment of EBA based agro-industrial zones powered by clean energy.   

For example, the EBAFOSA ICT –driven app Ebagropamoja is connecting financers with advisory service providers, suppliers of clean energy interventions among other key interveners to finance enterprises based on EBA driven agriculture & clean energy value addition. Through the Ebagropamoja app which has mapped all these intervening actors, entrepreneurs identify a given product e.g. a solar powered micro-irrigation system for on-farm value addition, solar drier plant for off-farm value addition etc., needed to establish or enhance their agro-productivity using EBA and clean energy. They then identify a financial partner and the financer offers financial intermediation to finance the acquisition of the given clean energy / EBA product or service. Similarly, extension services are offered online. An entrepreneur connects with an expert online, fills out a query form, including uploading any pictures illustrating nature of their particular issues and gets expert advice. Market information – both demand market information on product and prices, and supply markets in sourcing for inputs. Technical information including on weather patterns is equally covered.

Going forward, EBAFOSA ICT –driven app, Ebagropamoja is developing a dedicated financing service module to finance products & services along the entire EBAFOSA chain. This is the M-eBAFOSA financing app that runs on the Ebagropamoja ERP. It is a one-stop-shop financing module, a door-way that links end-users/clients interested in financing along the EBAFOSA chain, to the relevant EBA-based product & service providers along the entire EBAFOSA chain - be it advisory (EBA/clean energy), clean energy technology, EBAFOSA compliance standards etc - and an array of financial service providers to effect various levels of payment.

In addition, the EBAFOSA ICT –driven app Ebagropamoja is expanding beyond the above operational aspects, to introduce a new layer covering strategic level data needs for policy & non policy investment decisions makers. Ebagropamoja will utilize big data and its efficient, effective and seamless dissemination to a wide variety of stakeholders at policy & operational level, to inform optimal decisions on physical & policy investments towards establishment of the agro-industrial zones.

Among key aspects covered include spatial data, including physical attributes to rate the potential of various locations where zones could be established. This is to inform policies and ground actions for most optimal location for the zones. Location will for instance need to balance nearness to source of raw materials, nearness to collection points, markets and supply chains. So spatial data on land use suitability, data on crop value chains, market & raw material locations etc., will be archived in this new layer to inform lands, planning, energy, roads development, agriculture, incentives policies and physical investment decisions to ensure they are harmonized and complement establishment of these agro-industrial zones.

The above paradigm will be expanded to cover all the 40 EBAFOSA countries.