Real-Time Supply Chain Data, via Mobile, to Support Rapid Urbanization

By Justin P. Oberman, Co-Founder and CEO, Till Mobile
 
Growers, entrepreneurs, NGOs, investors, and governments are stepping up to meet the challenge of feeding the nine billion people that will live on Earth by 2050.  Even more daunting is that by then, more than 70 percent of this population will live in urban areas.
 
We founded Till to connect growers, including smallholders, to all layers of the supply chain, including the world’s largest brands, retailers, and manufacturers, as well as the other parties with whom they transact. 
 
We use mobile voice and text, which is quick and free (large brands pay Till so farmers don’t have to).
 
As one user of our solution put it: “Till is so much easier and faster than what I’ve been using, I have time to be a farmer again.”
 
Our vision for Till is to provide this value for hundreds of millions of smallholders around the world, helping increase their productivity and therefore their incomes and overall quality of life.  This is essential to feeding the world, to improving food security, and to alleviating poverty— particularly in cities—affordably, nutritiously, and sustainably.
 
Bill Gates made a powerful case in 2015, and again just a few months ago, that reaching and connecting growers—via text message—is critical to overall advancements in agriculture.
 
Improving Yields
 
If you can get better information to growers at the time it’s most needed, yields will increase.  The World Cocoa Foundation successfully demonstrated this in Africa; we’re in discussions with them now to expand on this great work.
 
We will soon begin another project to transmit and collect key sustainability metrics from a global food brand to smallholders in the developing world.  The data, which we will track and analyze for our customers, will help growers increase yields, lower unit costs (including transportation costs to cities), and reduce their carbon footprint.
 
Reducing Post-Harvest Loss
 
In addition to yield guidance, growers also need support to ensure that virtually all of what is harvested reaches the marketplace. We can use voice and text interchange to provide agronomist support on harvesting, safety/hygiene, storing, transport, etc., all of which will help decrease the 30 percent of food that is now wasted.
 
A major grocery chain in California has used Till to verify growers’ safety practices, improving compliance and enabling total transparency.  Today via Till, farmers and produce managers are finalizing direct-to-store prices and quantities via text message. As soon as fruit is picked, it’s on the way to large urban markets. There are none of the typical delays caused by unreturned phone calls or emails. 
 
Moving Goods Efficiently
 
Supply chain executives tell us every day that time is more important than money. Urban congestion and operational complexities make this dynamic more acute. Delays must be anticipated so they can be avoided, and express shipments must be minimized to reduce costs and improve quality and margins.
 
In the second half of 2016, Till will enable automated messaging using the geo-location capabilities of phones so that growers know where trucks are and can meet them to load product just-in-time.
 
Finally, we are honored that our growing team includes former Secretaries of Agriculture Dan Glickman and Ann Veneman, and former President of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs Marshall Bouton.