Startup Cholsas aims to connect farmers and markets

Cholsas, an agricultural B2B e-commerce marketplace, intends to bridge the gap between different factors in the agricultural industry, according to a TechZim report Monday, January 17.

In Zimbabwe, where Cholsas is based, farming is on all tax brackets. Some do it as a side business, some are smallholder farmers for whom it is the sole basis of income – and there are large commercial operations.

The statement says that all end up needing suppliers and marketplaces to do business, which can often be problematic for small or medium-sized businesses.

Cholsas operations consist of letting agricultural merchants and service providers market and supply goods to local farmers. Moreover, registered farmers can sell large quantities of crops in different markets through the same platform.

The idea behind Cholsas was to offer a solution to the fragmented nature of agriculture, as someone new to horticulture may not know where to source produce. Moreover, in their confusion, some of them may choose an unsuitable supplier.

“There are [a] lack of transparent knowledge of all existing input brands nationwide hence the dispersion of inputs leading to lack of proper price and quality comparison and sometimes more time is wasted in sourcing inputs, but many farmers still end up buying from the supplier that is not their choice,” the company told TechZim.

PYMNTS writes that last November, Indian agricultural services platform Arya.ag launched a buy now, pay later (BNPL) service to help the commodity shopping space.

See also: Indian AgriTech Arya.ag Launches BNPL for Commodities

Those using the BNPL service will need to upload their financial information and know your customer (KYC), then they will be able to access credit within minutes. Arya.ag will also provide solutions for warehouse rents, loan repayments and others.