Which is tougher? Digitizing a fast paced client items (FMCG) or an agricultural worth chain in growing nations?
Though the FMGC worth chain may very well be extra complicated (extra hyperlinks, much less visibility), a big a part of it’s in city areas the place the digital monetary providers (DFS) ecosystem is extra developed. Alternatively, although agricultural worth chains are in rural areas with much less developed digital infrastructure, these worth chains are usually a bit shorter, with fewer members.
Whereas there are loads of research on digitizing the agricultural worth chain with cell cash, there are fewer on FMCG chains. There may be even much less work completed on making certain that these efforts are tailor-made to girls. In an try to shut this data hole, Ladies’s World Banking is sharing a few of our learnings from latest work digitizing an FMCG worth chain in Nigeria, funded by Monetary Sector Deepening Africa by UKaid from the British individuals.
The drive to digitize
Digitizing worth chains has been a spotlight of many organizations of late, given the disruptive affect digital expertise has had on each degree and kind of trade. The advantages are huge, from extra visibility alongside the worth chain and operational efficiencies for corporations to elevated entry to handy, time saving monetary providers for people, to not point out progress in monetary inclusion. Specializing in making certain the worth chain works for ladies makes worth chains extra inclusive as properly, as a result of in lots of industries, girls are on the backside of this chain.
Fundamentals first
When deciding to digitize any worth chain, the primary prerequisite is a mature DFS market with a developed DFS ecosystem. What’s true for FMCG in city areas is even more true for agricultural worth chains: “The general lack of cell cash ecosystems in rural areas, even in nations with probably the most developed digital monetary service ecosystems, provides farmers little incentive to modify from money to digital funds.”[1]
In different phrases: if the market lacks a well-developed DFS ecosystem and easy-to-use providers that exhibit clear advantages over money, attempting to digitize a worth chain could be a close to unimaginable process. Additional, as girls the world over are much less probably than males to have entry to cell phones[2], a really inclusive digital worth chain must get artistic in figuring out entry factors which might be simple for ladies to succeed in. Alternatively, if a DFS ecosystem exists, now we’re “cooking with gasoline,” because the expression goes.
Newbies don’t make nice recruiters…
We can not count on somebody to be taught and educate a brand new conduct concurrently. Asking an FMCG worth chain participant to change into an agent and then recruit and educate her prospects to change into DFS customers could also be tough particularly if the agent-to-be has not used the service beforehand.
…however acquainted faces do!
Utilizing gross sales brokers that FMCG worth chain members already know to introduce the service is very efficient in changing to utilization. A stranger—typically the cell cash commerce improvement consultant (TDR)—attempting to clarify how or why to make use of a brand new cost methodology whereas the participant is busy in her store, is nearly ineffective.
Nevertheless, FMCG representatives might also not be geared up to clarify the service properly to the shopper. A more practical technique is to have a well-known FMCG gross sales or advertising and marketing agent introduce the TDR to the worth chain participant. This method leverages the prevailing belief between gross sales agent and worth chain participant, smoothing over apprehension or distrust a brand new face would possibly engender. That is significantly essential for ladies worth chain members, who’re way more conservative in attempting out new providers than males.
Give them a cause to digitize
Incentives actually work in altering conduct, particularly in the event that they end in monetary positive aspects. They’ll take the type of the FMCG product which they will promote for revenue, or advertising and marketing merchandise equivalent to t-shirts, umbrellas, and so on. Not surprisingly, FMCG product incentives are way more efficient as a result of it comes with the potential for added revenue.
Digitizing a worth chain is difficult work however work price doing. I hope the following tips assist you to in designing an inclusive digitization answer to your firm. If you happen to’d like to listen to extra about this challenge, tweet to me at @DianaBoncheva.
[1] www.cgap.org/weblog/sequence/digitizing-agricultural-value-chains
[2] GSMA, The Cell Gender Hole Report 2018, https://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/programmes/connected-women/the-mobile-gender-gap-report-2018/
