ECOM TRADING
revenue and reducing the costs that the they will incur .
“ ECOM comes in with an approach where it ’ s not just acting as a trader to come and buy the farmers ’ beans , it focuses on other business models that supplements the farmer ’ s income ,” says Muzzammil .
“ Farmers across Ghana don ’ t have access to large farmlands , large yields and large revenues . They are sustenance farmers , using farming as a means of surviving each and every day . This is where ECOM works extremely hard to support them .”
ECOM takes on a very “ hands on ” approach to working with local farmers and it does so through a number of initiatives , each designed to enrich lives .
One such initiative is the Crop Doctor . The purpose of the Crop Doctor is to provide a complete service for the farmer not only providing inputs to protect the crops from diseases , but also equip them with the knowledge about farming , disease control , identification of infestations . Crop doctor also enables convenient payment options to ensure the farmer does timely applications without having to worry about his cash flow . Crop Doctor is able to also offer this facility to the farmers at a much cheaper price .
“ We minimise the supply chain by contract manufacturing these inputs from the best plants in the world and supplying directly to our farmer base ,” says Muzzammil . “ This really provides a major advantage for the farmers and saves close to 20-25 % of their overall operating costs .”
The company ’ s farm services don ’ t stop there either . ECOM ’ s Sustainability Management Services ( SMS ), works with farmers to enable them to improve their yield through best practices in Agriculture , Environmental and Social standards . SMS also works on additional livelihood programs , farmer business school trainings which equip the farmer with the knowledge to see farming as a business and also enables a year round income generation opportunity . This also extends to farm management
268 May 2018