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AgriBee (Cambodia) Plc, a value chain management company, aims to increase the performance of key players in the agriculture and agri-food sector and improve operations at all stages of the procurement process, in order to provide products of Greater value to end customers.Founded in December 2019, the company developed BeeApp to provide industry stakeholders with easier access to funds, technical assistance, and other market-driven services and support. The company identifies these key players as farmers, agricultural input suppliers, crop traders, rice mills and exporters and financial institutions, and connects them through the platform. It emphasizes farmers, as one of the most vulnerable actors in the sector. The application integrated 3,000 small farmers, 300 BeeShops, 20 BeeDepo, 20 crop traders, 70 rice mills, five suppliers of agricultural inputs, five exporters and two microfinance institutions (MFIs). AgriBee also participates in the collection of 100,000 tonnes of paddy and in contract farming agreements with 12 agricultural cooperatives. less than 20%, according to central bank data. During the Covid-19 crisis, the sector continued to grow, although it is believed that great potential was wasted due to limited processing capacity and the fact that exports mainly consist of raw materials. In addition, investors have generally been hesitant to enter the market. Company President Mak Chamroeun spoke with May Kunmakara to further discuss what AgriBee has done and how it has improved Cambodian agricultural value chains.
What is AgriBee doing to reduce the vulnerability of farmers to agricultural risks?
We have specifically categorized farmers as “vulnerable†and are helping them during what we see as the three key stages.
The first is the funding phase. Farmers are known to be very vulnerable to funding constraints. They are often classified as high risk clients and face higher costs, due to many perceived shortcomings, such as poor financial knowledge and discipline, or not knowing how to use funds responsibly. .
Most farmers obtain cash funding from MFIs. When people receive cash loans – whether through a bank account or physical banknotes – they can freely use the funds for any purpose outlined in their loan agreement.
Following AgriBee’s experiences with 5,000 farmers in 14 provinces, we noticed that most farmers – 80 percent – buy agricultural input credits, which means they take the materials at higher prices. and pay them back during harvest. This cost will drop from three to five percent each month, and they will still owe the financial institution 1.5 to 2.5 percent.
AgriBee’s response to this is to provide digital payment solutions, so that farmers avoid handling money and potentially misusing it.
The second is the pre-harvest or cultivation phase. We help farmers access better quality certified agricultural inputs at lower prices in the 350 BeeShops available through our app.
We have been working with a US-based crop insurance company since 2020 and will team up with Forte for 2022, to protect farmers from natural disasters and secure their loans to MFIs. For example, if their crops are affected by floods or droughts, their insurance will cover the damage.
Farmers also have access to agricultural technical advice from AgriBee’s main players, such as agricultural input suppliers.
The third is the post-harvest stage – AgriBee provides a ready market for farmers. They can sign a fixed-price contract farming contract before cultivation, or simply sell crops to traders through BeeApp at market price. The loans would be settled on the app once they sold their crops and received payments from the concessionaire.
How to improve access to finance for agriculture and where does AgriBee fit in?
Agriculture is considered a high risk industry. Not only do farmers find it difficult to access finance, but so do all other actors, including rice mills, agricultural input suppliers and agricultural cooperatives.
To potentially boost their credit scores, BeeApp does not provide our clients with free access to cash – or easily convertible assets – that are not for profit.
AgriBee is slowly introducing a new funding model for financial institutions, to enable them to get to know their customers better – integrating KYC and solvency protocols – through the app, where customers in turn have access to funding from their preferred institutions, which could minimize abuse.
Hopefully, we are seeing some very good trends. We have public financial institutions as policy owners, such as Bank of Small and Medium Enterprises of Cambodia (PME Bank), Agricultural and Rural Development Bank of Cambodia (ARDB), and Cambodia Credit Guarantee Corporation (CGCC).
And over the past five years, disbursements for agriculture have increased dramatically. And AgriBee could very well provide a huge boost to farm finance.
What has held back investments in the Kingdom’s agri-food industry, despite the enormous apparent potential?
We’ve heard some general concerns from experts about areas like finance and infrastructure – including logistics, irrigation systems, drying and storage, and processing.
However, from AgriBee’s point of view, most of the challenges are the consequence of the disconnection between actors in the agricultural sector.
Farmers are not able to easily access finance, and financial institutions will not finance their customers due to a lack of credit data, among other reasons.
AgriBee is an end-to-end agricultural value chain management platform and payment platform for agricultural value chains.
What are AgriBee’s plans for 2022?
AgriBee’s vision is to support sustainable rice production, and we will join the government’s efforts to achieve one million tonnes of annual exports of milled rice.
We plan to involve 100,000 farmers, 3,000 BeeShops, 300 BeeDepos, 100 rice farmers, 100 crop traders, 20 agricultural input suppliers, 10 rice traders and at least 10 financial institutions in the value chain ecosystem AgriBee.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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