A third of all food produced is lost due to improper harvesting, storage and transportation, In Egypt, 45-55% of all fruits and vegetables produced are lost before they reach stores resulting in millions of dollars wasted. In a country, where the population is growing exponentially, greater stress is being placed on the nation's food security. Moreover, the agro-supply chain is extremely inefficient with numerous middlemen taking advantage of smallholder farmers. These farmers make up nearly 50 million, are missing out on 80% of their potential income, and thus being forced out of the industry to find other jobs. Hence, the food loss, the corruption from middlemen and the exploitation of the farmers are what we aim to solve. FreshSource is a mobile e-vendor of agri-goods, connecting farms to businesses and providing last mile solutions. FreshSource analysts use data gathered daily to predict market prices and forecast fluctuations. These are taken into account when partnering with farmers to guarantee more transparent pricing. Through our customers we are able to understand market demand more extensively and thus work with farmers in the long run to adopt a more demand driven approach to choosing which crops to produce. FreshSource’s digital platform enables us to use the power of data and technology to streamline the agriculture value chain and optimize the supply of goods while reducing food loss and strengthening the country's food security. FreshSource was awarded the DigitalAgricultural award by the World Bank, Obama Leadership Award, Wharton School's Ideas4Action Award. Farmers using our services have witnessed a minimum of 20% increase in their income, significantly improving their quality of life and empowering Egypt's most underserved communities. Businesses that we have supplied have saved 15% of costs enabling them to lower prices for the end consumers. Hence, we have a direct impact on our farmers and customers as well as enabling consumers to afford a healthier diet of fresh fruit and vegetable, which was usually only offered to the higher socio-economic groups. Finally, we have a food loss average of 2% against the national average of 45%,.
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