Connecting farmers to market :Sorghum value chain
In Cankuzo, Cibitoke, Bubanza and Makamba, sorghum is one of the crops that grow well in those areas and farmers cultivate it from a long time. When they harvest it, they consume it as flour in different forms and sell the rest to the market in their localities.
When sold at the market, they measure the sorghum per cup. Because it takes a long time to sell their whole production, they sometimes chose to sell to businesspersons who then cheat them on the price.
Brarudi S.A started buying sorghum from farmers in Cankuzo in 2019 and the G50s started in 2020. Before the introduction of G50 network, farmers use to sell their sorghum to cooperatives who would gather all the sorghum in their storages. Brarudi S.A used to deal directly with cooperatives and pay farmers through them.
Palm Oil production project made by a G50 of Nyanza Lac/Makamba
G50 members of Bogorwa Gr2 in Nyanza Lac/Makamba have decided to save money and start common projects of development. The aim was to join hands and do activities that can improve their financial status. This particular group chose palm oil production since in their area palm trees are everywhere.
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G50 as a solution to social cohesion in Projet-Gr1 (Nyanza-Lac/Makamba)
Development Projects within the G50s: Palm Oil production by Bogorwa Gr2/Nyanza-Lac
Bogorwa Gr2 is a G50 located in the small town center of Nyanza-Lac Commune in Makamba Province. This ....read more
About AUXFIN
AUXFIN aims to deliver financial solutions that are accessible to all, including vulnerable populations with low literacy and numeracy skills, limited access to internet, no- or low access to electricity, and limited experience with mobile and other technologies.
Vision
The vision of AUXFIN is to develop value networks accessible to all. This leads to development of the Rural Financial ECO System and the ICT infrastructure; with the development of the Migrant Financial ECO System and the use of remittances as a financial catalyst for rural development; enabling capacity building, financial inclusion and economic development.
Mission
The mission of AUXFIN is: 'Financial Access for All'. This means to deliver, against very low prices, basic elementary banking functions such as registration, savings, loans and payments. However, recognizing that some vulnerable participants may require additional assistance to complete a transaction, trained agents and digital coaches are foreseen in our community activation platform. Delivering solutions that offer an appropriate balance between accessibility for all users, while still offering efficiency and transparency gains, is our daily challenge.Several types of organizations can use the platform free of charge, leading to fast and scalable installations and a large user-base. The many transactions result in big data that is the basis for development plans of Government and NGO's.
To deliver on our mission we use 3 main solutions: UMVA, AUX-EL and Jeanne.
UMVA (Universal Method of Value Acces) is a set of interconnected solutions that forms the backbone of our work and consists of:
- UMVA CLIENT, the e-banking solution for members
- UMVA BANK, the core banking solution in the cloud
- UMVA LOCAL, the banking solution for locations without internet
- UMVA AGENT, the solution for the last mile
- REG REP, the registration solution for cooperatives, schools and hospitals
- UMVA COOP, the core management solution for Cooperatives
- GEO UMVA, the GEO database solution
AUX-EL is the e-Learning tool for UMVA users providing online courses that are tailor-made to the skills and needs of the users.
Jeanne is the digital coach with chatbot technology.
Cornelis Heesbeen
CEO, Founder of AUXFIN, UMVA and AUXEL
cornelis.heesbeen@auxfin.com
Cornelis Heesbeen has more than 40 years work experience, 7 years in Finance in Developing countries, 17 years in Information Technology with companies like Airport Schiphol, SAP and i2Technologies, 17 years in accounting. AUXFIN INTERNATIONAL is incorporated in 2013.
Marco van Andel
Chief Operating Officer
marcovanandel@auxfin.com
Marco van Andel has more than 20 years work experience, 10 years in Finance in Developing countries, most notably in Mozambique and Senegal, and 10 years in Insurance. Marco holds a degree in Business Administration for the Financial Sector of Free University of Amsterdam and a Master in Development Economics from Sussex.
Mark van den Brink
Chief Financial Officer
mark.vandenbrink@auxfin.com
Mark van den Brink has more than 20 years work experience as a Finance Director in particularly fast growing software organizations. A seasoned financial who drives change being focused on results with international expertise in highly changing environments. Been part of several acquisitions, mergers and investments. Mark holds a bachelor degree in Financ/Accounting.
Andre Jellema
Agricultural program manager
andre.jellema@auxfin.com
Jori Langwerden
Specialist agricultural applications and M&E
jori.langwerden@auxfin.com
Claudia Kool
Financial Controller
claudia.kool@auxfin.com
Welmoed Sprong
Nutrition Expert
welmoed.sprong@auxfin.com
Sabin Maharjan
Development Manager
sabin.maharjan@auxfin.com
Sabin has more than 13 years work experience. The organization develops the UMVA Platform since 2011. Sabin holds a bachelor degree in Computer technology at Tribhuvan University, Nepal. AUXFIN Nepal is incorporated on 2011.
Yannick Chokola
Territory Manager AUXFIN Burundi / Financial Inclusion Expert
yannick.chokola@auxfin.com
Yannick has more than 7 years work experience. The team works on UMVA projects since 2013. Yannick holds a bachelor in computer science at Université du lac tanganyika, Burundi. AUXFIN Burundi is incorporated in 2016.
Sujata Joshi
Senior Graphics Designer/ QA
sujata.joshi@auxfin.com
Bikram Maharjan
Team Leader
bikram.maharjan@auxfin.com
Samjhana Tuladhar
Senior Developer
samjhana.tuladhar@auxfin.com
Jayan Kapali
Senior Developer
jayan.kapali@auxfin.com
Rojma Shrestha
App Developer
rojma.shrestha@auxfin.com
Alina Lamichhane
Developer
alina.lamichhane@auxfin.com
Sewika Sapkota
Developer
sewika.sapkota@auxfin.com
Bishal Maharjan
Team Leader (NextLevelValue)
maharjanbishal@nextlevelvalue.nl
Sajan Awale
Developer (NextLevelValue)
sajan@nextlevelvalue.nl
Jr. Bishal Maharjan
Developer (NextLevelValue)
bishal@nextlevelvalue.nl
Nischal Babu Bohara
Frontend Developer (NextLevelValue)
nischal@nextlevelvalue.nl
Rajeev Rajchal
Frontend Developer (NextLevelValue)
rajeev@nextlevelvalue.nl
Sunny Shahi Khadgi
UI/UX
sunnyshahi.khadgi@auxfin.com
Lina Maharjan
React/ React-native Developer
lina.maharjan@auxfin.com
Rumi Maharjan
React/ React-native Developer
rumi.maharjan@auxfin.com
Freddy Ditutu Kambayi
Consultant Financial Inclusion/ Team Leader
kambayi.freddy@auxfin.com
Irakoze Chaddia
Financial Consultant
irakoze.chaddia@auxfin.com
Dr. Lydia Moukoury
Health Specialist
lydia.moukoury@auxfin.com
AgriCoach App
AgriCoach is the digital application in the UMVA system for farmers which help in solving when, what and how to achieve best agricultural solutions. Farmers are able to select best suited crops for their fields per season and plot type on the basis of the current weather condition for their location.
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2020
2020
- Burundi 1,4 million families registered
- Roll out plan to double from 4,000 to 8,000 groups
- TMEA grant a project for safe trade of seed related to COVID-19
- Collaboration with ICCO of FinanceCoach started
- Nicash founded, with the intention to connect the groups to the rural financial services
- RABO ACORN Carbon Credits pilot, first Carbon Credit project in AUXFIN
- UNICEF NutritionCoach project started
- WFP local sourcing further developed
- Scoping mission Uganda
- New UMVA tablet designed and manufactured
- AgriCoach used by 20,000 households with proven positive impact
- COVID-19 version of HealthCoach made available
- Offline app technology for all our apps introduced for low/no connectivity areas
- Full Value Chain management solution implemented, including input distribution, collection, validation and direct payment
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2019
2019
- AgriCoach V1a successfully launched in Burundi on the UMVA tablet.
- 3.300 farmers/households are using the weatherforecast to better plan their agricultural activities
- Smart farming geodata platform implemented into the UMVA system
- REGISTRATION APP launched for on line and off line use
- MAPPING APP launched for on line mapping
- GIZ awards grant to AUXFIN and partners for IDDEA project in UGANDA
- UMVA PAYMENT APP and POS APP used for rainmetering in Burundi
- JEANNE tool for communication and chatbot used for M&E
- Scoping mission Sudan
- start potato supply chain Kenya
- Waterwatch included
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2018
2018
- NSO awards grant to AUXFIN and partners for GAP4A project in Burundi
- UMVA and PosteCash Senegal announce interoperability
- AUXFIN and UMVA present at IFAD marketplace in UN headquarters in New York.
- Launch of UMVA in Mali with support from Mastercard Foundation's Fund for Rural Prosperity
- Connecting UMVA solutions with GEO DATA
- UMVA PAYMENT APP and POS APP
- JEANNE tool for communication and chatbot, with incident reporting
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2017
2017
- AfDB commissioned market study for the introduction of UMVA in Mali, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso
- Introduction of UMVA in Italy with support from IOM
- Scoping mission in Lebanon to enable Cash Assistance with UMVA
- Burundi growing to 170.000 families (1 million people)
- POSTE-CASH with UMVA link with 3000 access points in Senegal
- UMVA COOP fase 1 implemented
- GEO developed
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2016
2016
- SALPOST introduces POSTUMVA in Sierra Leone on 16th of June, the international day of family remittances
- UMVA projects in Burundi reach 30.000 families
- CAP solution introduced, with 6 pillars
- UMVA AGENT introduced
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2015
2015
- AfDB provides a grant to our partner in Senegal to leverage the UMVA service towards financial inclusion
- Study to use UMVA in refugee camps in Kurdistan
- Introduction of community activation in Burundi
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2014
2014
- Rabobank funds our partner in Senegal to introduce the UMVA service across its branch network
- Introduction of UMVA in Belgium and the Netherlands
- Creation of AUXFIN Burundi
- First implementation for payment process on the PSEB fertilizer project
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2013
2013
- Introduction of UMVA in France
- Development of UMVA LOAN solution
- School registration system installed in Nepal
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2012
2012
- Introduction of UMVA in Spain
- UMVA Bank developed with focus on SACCO’s
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2011
2011
- Birth of AUXFIN International to boost the implementation of the UMVA solutions
- Launch of UMVA pilot in Senegal with support from IFAD
- UMVA Client developed with focus on international transfers
The end of the GAP4ALL project
Today we submitted the final report for the GAP4ALL project to NSO. The AgriCoach has been installed for 8.142 G50 groups consisting of more than 400.000 households reaching approximately 2,3 million people at 31-12-2021. In the next 2 years another 300.000 households will be added to the network. This year we will launch the AgriCoach in Sudan and looking for opportunities in Uganda, Rwanda, DRC and Burkina Faso.
We are thanking the Dutch government, our partners WeatherImpact, eLeaf, NextView, R2000+ and the Burundi government for the support received.
Our results and the impact of the AgriCoach on the farmers community can be read in the final evaluation report. For organisations interested in adopting the AgriCoach please contact andre.jellema@auxfin.com
AUXFIN AgriCoach final evaluation report - January 2022
AUXFIN AgriCoach - Rapport d'évaluation finale - janvier 2022
G50 as a solution to social cohesion in Projet-Gr1 (Nyanza-Lac/Makamba)
Projet Gr-1 is one of the most dynamic G50s in Nyanza-Lac/Makamba province. Despite the fact that it was formed recently, the members responded massively to the call of coming together, learn and do development projects together.
Before the establishment of the G50s, the population was so divided in Bukeye zone where Projet Gr-1 is located. There were severe trust issues among neighbors because there had been many cases of people poisoning one another. Due to that, there was a lot of hatred among the population and almost zero interactions between them.
When Auxfin brought the G50 approach to them, they grabbed quickly the benefits of teaming up. They understood that if they wanted to go far, they needed to put their efforts together to accomplish more.
Therefore, they joined hands and started group activities, which lead them to knowing one another a little bit more. Group members agreed on putting their guards down and they abandoned old hatred when they started carrying for each other.
Only a few months after starting their G50, Projet GR-1 members have now 6pigs bought with their group savings that they are breeding together as a group. As time goes by, and with more savings from group members, they want to diversify their breeding to goats and cows.
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