When Mariam Hamzat was an undergraduate in Nigeria studying environmental biology, she saw farmers from surrounding areas sell their produce, but at a fraction of its value.

“Farmers grow cashews, and companies send people down to buy them, but they cheat the farmers,” said Hamzat, who is working on her Ph.D. in marine and environmental sciences at Northeastern University. “Farmers have to take their products out of town most of the time.”

In rural Africa, instead of using raw materials grown nearby, local businesses import the goods they need. This disconnect between farmers and companies leads to massive overproduction and waste, Hamzat said, so she is teaming up with three Northeastern chemical engineering graduate students to develop a way to address the $4 billion annual post-harvest crop loss in sub-Saharan Africa.

They call the approach AgriQ-Connect, a third party in the supply chain designed to educate farmers about which products are needed and make businesses aware that there are abundant raw materials available nearby. As an app, AgriQ-Connect will serve as a marketplace for transactions between manufacturers and farmers.

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Courtesy photo.