Farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa commonly lose 60 per cent of their crop before it gets to market, and that number is way too high for Damilare Odumosu.

The Nigeria native has been a student for the past year in the Masters of Technology, Management and Entrepreneurship program at University of New Brunswick. And he’s been using his time in Fredericton to build a company to tackle the problem.

All Farmers Online has developed a digital product that connects three parties that improve the agricultural supply chain in Africa: farmers, who customarily oversee small, family-owned plots; exporters and retailers, who bring the product to market; and unemployed young people, who can serve as a bridge between the two.

“Our goal is to increase the production of farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa,” said Odumosu in a presentation at UNB last week. “But we are not just about the social part — we also want to make money.”

Having previously studied mechanical engineering at University of Lagos, Odumosu enrolled at UNB last September, when he began to develop a company to help farmers in Africa.

His business model begins with the farmers themselves, who suffer because of faulty supply chains, poor transportation and long distances to markets. With the combination of these problems, more than half their crop commonly rots before it can be sold.

Making matters worse, Odumosu said these farmers generally are not “tech savvy,” meaning that it is hard to devise a digital solution that would have broad penetration in this market.

Read about Odumosu and 12 Others who Presented at UNB Demo Day

Odumosu has struck a partnership with a Nigerian bank that works in agriculture to establish links with farmers. Then he connects these farmers up with young people in Nigeria, who are tech savvy.

Odumosu said there is a huge youth unemployment problem in the country, with an unemployment rate of 42 per cent by some estimates. All Farmers Online can provide work for young people by getting them to help farmers catalogue their produce and post it on allfarmersonline.com. There is already a selection of produce and prices available on the site.

The final link in the chain is to bring in exporters and retailers. These links allow them to view the produce posted on the website and arrange orders and shipping.

All Farmers Online is now conducting pilot tests in Nigeria and has been gaining notice internationally. It was a regional finalist for the World Bank’s Ideas 4 Action competition. And earlier this month at StartupFest in Montreal, the company won a Grandmother’s Choice Award, in which a panel of grandmothers selected the top startups at a pitching event.

Odumosu is now continuing with the project and working on raising capital to help the project proceed. He is looking for $310,000.

All Farmers Online is one of a few Atlantic Canadian social ventures that are using technology to try to improve lives in Africa. Other examples are Jaza Energy and Mbissa Energy, both of which install solar-powered recharging stations in African villages, and Community Forests International, which helps to foster proper stewardship of forests.