CBC: Cassava Business Connector

Revolutionize the cassava value chain with CBC, ensuring seamless communication and robust market linkages for enhanced income opportunities.

The Cassava Business Connector (CBC) is a digital platform that streamlines communication within the cassava value chain. It integrates stakeholders like producers, processors, and end-users, aiming to enhance market access and income opportunities. The CBC, accessible at http://taat-cbc.org, allows real-time tracking, communication, and coordination. It enables digital data collection and provides a map-based navigation tool. This innovation significantly improves the efficiency of the cassava value chain, benefitting all stakeholders.

This technology is TAAT1 validated.

8•8

Scaling readiness: idea maturity 8/9; level of use 8/9

Adults 18 and over: Positive high

It provides adults with important market data (pricing, availability, demand), helping them make informed decisions that optimize their productivity and profitability.

The poor: Positive low

CBC helps poorer actors in the value chain maximize their profits, which can contribute to poverty reduction.

Under 18: Positive medium

It encourages youth involvement by providing them with opportunities to develop digital skills and engage in entrepreneurial activities within the cassava value chain.

Women: Positive medium

The app reduces geographic and information barriers that often hinder women’s access to markets, allowing them to compete more effectively.

Climate adaptability: Moderately adaptable

It can facilitate the sharing of climate-smart practices and innovations among value chain actors, contributing to improved climate resilience.

Farmer climate change readiness: Significant improvement

CBC allows farmers to access valuable information about climate conditions and best practices for mitigating climate change impacts, improving their readiness for climate variability.

Biodiversity: Positive impact on biodiversity

CBC can encourage the adoption of practices that protect and enhance local biodiversity.

Carbon footprint: A bit less carbon released

The technology helps optimize resource use, which can indirectly reduce carbon emissions related to inefficient agricultural practices.

Environmental health: Moderately improves environmental health

By improving market access and reducing waste, CBC can help decrease environmental pollution associated with decomposing surplus cassava.

Soil quality: Does not affect soil health and fertility

By facilitating better planning and coordination, CBC can help farmers use fertilizers more efficiently, reducing the risk of soil degradation.

Water use: Much less water used

The technology can aid in planning and managing water resources more effectively by providing timely information on crop needs and market conditions.

Problem

Communication gap between actors in the cassava value chain, leading to weak market linkage.
Lack of awareness among producers about potential buyers and vice versa.
Weak market linkage resulting in artificial gaps in demand-supply and potential glut effects.
Inefficient integration of value chain actors, hindering communication and coordination.
Lack of visibility among value chain actors, including producers, input suppliers, processors, and end-users.
Conventional procedures for value chain promotion are costly, time-consuming, and often limited to specific products.
The need for digital innovations, such as the Cassava Business Connector (CBC), to improve market access and enhance income-generating opportunities for all value chain actors.

Solution

CBC integrates value chain actors through a digital platform, enhancing communication and coordination among producers, buyers, processors, and other stakeholders.
The platform allows actors to find each other easily via a map-based navigation tool and interact in real-time.
The app enables real-time monitoring of the cassava value chain, helping with production flow, status updates, and information sharing.
CBC collects and maintains a repository of market information, including product availability, pricing, location, and certification.
The app includes features for advertising products and creating direct connections between sellers and buyers, facilitating transactions.
The platform offers secure, personalized accounts for users to protect their data.

Key points to design your project

This technology aims to revolutionize communication and coordination within the cassava value chain, thereby enhancing food security, promoting environmental protection, and ensuring the safety of stakeholders. By facilitating efficient market linkages and streamlining information flow, the Cassava Business Connector (CBC) contributes to sustainable management of cassava production while mitigating the impacts of climate change.

To integrate the CBC into your project, consider the following steps:

Raise awareness among cassava stakeholders about the benefits and availability of the Cassava Business Connector.
Establish training programs for stakeholders to ensure effective utilization of the CBC platform.
Foster collective action programs to encourage collaboration among producers, processors, and end-users.
Facilitate access to financial support and markets for cassava stakeholders through the CBC platform.

Estimate the number of CBC subscriptions needed for your project, taking into account the cost of subscription fees. Additionally, consider the cost of necessary technological infrastructure, such as smartphones and data plans, for users to access the CBC platform efficiently. Training sessions are essential, so allocate resources for training-of-trainers programs and ongoing support.

Develop communication materials to promote the CBC platform, including flyers, videos, and radio broadcasts, to ensure widespread adoption among cassava stakeholders.

Collaborate with agricultural development institutes and other relevant stakeholders in the cassava value chain.

IP

Open source / open access

Countries with a green colour: Tested & adopted
Countries with a bright green colour: Adopted
Countries with a yellow colour: Tested
Countries with a blue colour: Testing ongoing

Countries where the technology is being tested or has been tested and adopted
Country	Testing ongoing	Tested	Adopted
Cameroon	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Democratic Republic of the Congo	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Nigeria	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Sierra Leone	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Tanzania	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted
Togo	–No ongoing testing	Tested	Adopted

This technology can be used in the colored agro-ecological zones. Any zones shown in white are not suitable for this technology.

Agro-ecological zones where this technology can be used
AEZ	Subtropic - warm	Subtropic - cool	Tropic - warm	Tropic - cool
Arid
Semiarid
Subhumid
Humid

Source: HarvestChoice/IFPRI 2009

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals that are applicable to this technology.

Goal 2: zero hunger

It helps smallholder farmers access markets and resources, improving their ability to produce and distribute food effectively.

Goal 8: decent work and economic growth

CBC can create job opportunities in areas such as data management, logistics, and digital services, supporting economic growth and decent work.

Goal 1: no poverty

CBC provides access to markets for poor and marginalized farmers, enhancing their economic opportunities and financial stability.

Goal 5: gender equality

The technology offers opportunities for youth involvement in agriculture, contributing to gender equality and economic empowerment.

Goal 9: industry, innovation and infrastructure

The app supports the development of digital infrastructure and platforms for better coordination and information sharing.

Stakeholder Integration: The CBC allows stakeholders to register and create virtual platforms within different countries. This integration facilitates seamless communication and coordination.
Real-Time Tracking: The platform enables real-time monitoring of activities within the cassava value chain. This includes tracking the movement of cassava from production to end-users.
Digital Data Collection: The CBC supports digital data collection, submission, and access. This feature streamlines the process of gathering and managing information related to cassava production and trade.
Map-Based Navigation: It offers a map-based navigation tool, making it easy for users to locate and connect with relevant stakeholders, including producers, buyers, sellers, and other actors in the value chain.
Alert System and Advertisement Features: The CBC includes an alert system and features for sharing product information. This functionality allows for direct trade linkages and enhances visibility for products in the market.