Participants on the 30th Global Young Leaders Programme (YLP) responded to International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)’s invitation to make business and strategic recommendations on ways to commercialise its research technology and used IRRI’s Nutrient Manager for Rice as a basis for a business model. Through a combination of classroom-based discussions and onsite visits to local communities, this YLP proposed the establishment of a new company to drive an integrated ICT platform to improve rice crop management and provide farmers with access to credit, farming-related information and services. This platform would give IRRI the opportunity to reach out and significantly impact the socio-economic livelihoods of smallholder farmers, whilst contributing to more environmentally sustainable farming methods.

1. Click to edit Master title style
Click to edit Master title style
ICT Enabled Service Delivery
for Rice Farming
A proposal by participants on GIFT’s 30th YLP

2. Global Food Security & The Role of Rice
• A small increase in global
food prices drives millions
into extreme poverty.
• Rice is a staple food for
more than 3 Billion people
(almost half the population)
• More than 90% of rice is
produced and consumed in
Asia.
• Continued pressure on
usage of Fertilizers, Climate
Change and Urbanization.

3. Rice Farming in the Philippines
Agriculture: Agriculture plays a
vital role in the Philippines economy.
• 13.2% of the GDP, 33% of labor
force: 12.27 million people
• Rice production is currently not
sufficient for national
consumption which leads to an
imbalance in the Balance of
Payment. The import content of
rice in 2012 was USD 300 M.
Currently the average rice yield is
3.7t/ha, lower than the world
average due to the ineffective crop
management practices
*8 Philippine Daily Inquirer, ADB urges Philippines to address
income inequality, 16 April 2012
*9 Bureau of Agricultural Statistics, Overview of Philippine
Agriculture
*10 FAO, USDA

4. International Rice Research Institute (IRRI)
• The International Rice Research Institute
(IRRI) is a non-profit independent
research and training organization
• IRRI is dedicated to developing new
varieties and crop management
techniques
• In line with its vision of providing
education to the Farmers IRRI launched
a platform called the Nutrient Manager
for Rice (NMR) to assist farmers in
optimising nutrient application

5. Global Institute for Tomorrow (GIFT)
• IRRI invited GIFT to evaluate commercial viability of the
Nutrient Manager for Rice.
• GIFT is a pan-Asian think and do tank dedicated to advancing
an understanding of:
– Shift of economic power from west to east
– Reshaping of global capitalism
– Evolving social contract between business, government and civil
sectors
• GIFT asks… what does this mean for Asia and the world?

6. Profiles of YLP Participants
YLP participants come from corporate sector, with IT and
agricultural backgrounds as well

7. Key Findings on NMR
Benefits:
• Reduce fertilizer cost, increased paddy yield
• Tailor made advice for farmer
• Print out service
Challenges
• NMR is beneficial but not comprehensive.
Farmers need assistance on Weather,
Prices, Post Harvest Techniques to help
maximize their value chain
• Low penetration into farming community
• Unfamiliarity with ICT interface
• Lack of hardware capital
• Lack of ICT literacy
• Lack of Post-harvest support

8. Identifying opportunities & gaps
Proposal to create a New Company that provides a
comprehensive platform to farmers
UNMET NEEDS
• Reducing Pre
Harvest Costs
• Increase yield
• Improved Post
harvest services
• Appropriate
financial services
MARKET TRENDS
• Strong GDP
growth
• Smartphone
usage increase
• Increased
interested in
targeted rural
marketing
IRRI’s MARKET
POSITION
• World Leader in
Rice Science
• Opportunities
to influence
policy
(Proposed
Policy
Influencers)

9. Introducing the new company
Civil
Public Private•Integrating the objectives of
public, private and civil
sectors
•New approach to delivering
IRRI’s world class research
•Driver of rural prosperity ,
Philippino rice self-sufficiency
and nation-building

10. Overview of Farm Saya business model
• Comprehensive information services for
farmers
– Nutrient Manager, Rice Crop Manager, Rice Doctor,
Knowledge Bank
– Daily weather information
– Market & Pricing info
– Micro-financing
• Business model based on building a large
rural subscriber network
– Free of charge for farmers
– In the future, premium service will be provided
• Revenue sources
– Commissions from commodity sellers
through the network
– Future premium subscription model
– Sales of market data
ICT Platform will extend to more of the rice value chain
How to access and use Nutrient Manager
Web GSM mobile phoneSmartphone
Interactive Voice
Response
implementation box
Farmer calls
dedicated number
Smartphone
output
Web output
Smartphone
and mobile:
Text output
Available in Philippines and
Indonesia

11. Revenue & Operation Model
Farm Saya provides subscriber network in farming community
Investors
- Non-private
- Private
- Farmers
Association
- Impact
Investor
Knowledge
- IRRI
- PhileRice
- ICT
Farm Saya
Integrated
Platform
Smartphone,
PC, Tablet, SMS,
Printing material
Extension
workers
Direct
Channel
Local NGO
Co-op
Farmers
Information
- Fertilizer
- Seeds
- Daily needs

12. Farm Saya Organisational structure - highlights
• Unique partnerships are invited
for shareholding
– IRRI
– PhilRice
– Farmers associations
– Private sector
– Civil sector
• Equity opportunities will be
offered for farmers and farming
consultants
Proposal for IRRI to invest in new shareholding partnership
Potential Shareholders
IRRI
PhiliRice
Private
sector
Civil
sector
Percentage will to be determined.
Farmers

13. Sales & Marketing Strategy Overview
Direct Channel (Sales & Service Agents)
Shareholders
Public Sector/
Gov Orgs
NGOs &
Youth Groups
Agri Orgs
Education
Institutions
Retail Chains
Religious
Communities
Media
Social
Networks
Farm
Saya
Farmers
Indirect Channels
Farm Saya sales effort will reach and attract a critical
mass of farmers

14. Introducing Farm Saya Sales & Service Agent (SSA)
SSA’s are clearly differentiated from public sector extension workers:
• Promote Farm Saya ICT platform and support delivering info services
• Work in best interest of farmers to improve crop management
• Highly motivated through private company incentives and potential
employee shareholding options
• Well equipped with hardware and well supported with world-class
knowledge resources from IRRI etc
+
Sales & Service Agents present a new model for serving the
needs of farmers

15. Focusing on the young farmers
Farm Saya’s Goals
• Turning farming a more
desirable profession choice for
younger Filipino generation
• Equipping young farmers with
latest Agri-info and best farming
practices
Supporting Strategy
• Building up online network for
young farmers (e.g. Facebook /
Twitter)
• Designate agri-major students as
Student Ambassadors; Fund
Student Volunteer Groups to
conduct village education and
registration service
• Publicity effort via local media
specifically targeting young
generation
Future of rice production depends
on next generation of farmers

16. Additional channels to build network
Direct Channel
Shareholder
Education Institute
Agri Orgs
Public Sector/ Gov Orgs
Religious Communities
Private/Corporate
partners
Media
NGO
Retail Chains
Social Networks
-2
0
2
4
6
8
10
0 1 2 3 4 5
Est. Initial Resource Required
(Index on the scale of 10)
Year to Start
Note: The bubble sizes represent Est. # of farmers
reached/attracted (index on the scale of 10)
Direct sales agent outreach is supplemented by a variety of
marketing channels

17. Farmer subscriber targets
30,000
75,000
150,000
240,000
300,000
360,000
432,000
518,400
622,080
746,496
0
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000
700,000
800,000
YR1 YR2 YR3 YR4 YR5 YR6 YR7 YR8 YR9 YR10
Subscription Target by Year
Subscription Target to reach 750K users by Year 10

18. Future Business Partnership Target
Telecom Food & Beverage
Companies
Financial services
• Smart
• Globe
• Jollibee
• San Miguel
• BanKO
• Crop Insurance
In additional to subscribing farmer users, Farm Saya will pursue
business partnership, and some examples are
Retail Chain Inputs/Equip Companies FMCG
• Seven Eleven
• Supermarket
• Seed Companies
• Fertilizer Companies
• Farming Equipment
Manufacturers
• Nestle
• Unilever
• Procter & Gamble

19. Financial Assumptions
Key Revenue Streams
1. Commission from Business
Partnership Sales through ICT
Platform
2. Sales of Customized Data for
targeted marketing campaigns
3. Future Premium Model
Subscription
Key Costs
1. Labor Cost associated with Sales
and Service Agent is primary cost
2. Marketing Cost to reach
subscribers
3. IT Development to expand
platform

20. Financial Projection (Base Case)
Revenue increases alongside subscriber increases
(200,000)
0
200,000
400,000
600,000
800,000
1,000,000
(1,000,000)
0
1,000,000
2,000,000
3,000,000
4,000,000
5,000,000
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
(Persons)
(1,000 PHP)
Revenue Accumulated Profit No. of Perticipants (RHS)

21. Scenario Analysis
Scenario Usage Growth
Customized
Data (Revenue
at Year 2)
Break Even
Required
Capital
Best
Aggressive
growth
USD750k Year 3 USD 4.2M
Base
Moderate
growth
USD500k Year 5 USD 6M
Worst Weak growth USD250k Year 6 USD 9.5M
Base case shows break even in Year 5 with capital
requirement of USD 6M

22. Sensitivity Analysis
-500,000
0
500,000
1,000,000
1,500,000
2,000,000
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
(1,000 PHP)
Accumulated Profit Accumulated Profit(Best) Accumulated Profit(Worst)

23. Roll out timeline
Month 1-6
Identify and Engage Key Stakeholders
Setup Business Entity
Develop Integrated ICT Platform
Month 7-12
Negotiation with Business Partners
Test Run Platform
Prepare Hiring of Sales and Service Agent
Set up Back Office Support
Month 13-24
Hire & train Sales and Service Agent
Build up Platform Base
Monitor Progress and Obtain Feedback
Ongoing Research and Development

24. Recommendations
• Farm Saya proposal allows IRRI to
deliver research to farming community
through an equity-based sustainable
model.
– Investors
– Strong government support
– Farmers as shareholders
• Comprehensive platform with suite of
features in addition to Nutrient Manager
– Weather information
– Post harvest information
• A movement bigger than the farmer
alone!
– Campaign driven, nation building
approach
• Model can be expanded beyond
Philippines

25. Institutional Recommendations for IRRI Consideration
• IRRI needs to seek private sector partners
interested in implementation
(commercialization rather than only
fundraising for research)
• Use Science & Research to influence
public policy & engage key private sector
partners
• creating a public policy department and
set priorities aligned with IRRI mission
and value
– Address Post harvest challenges
– Leverage research & expertise to
influence change

26. It takes a nation to grow rice!
• Greater movement
• Multiple
stakeholders
• Communities of
farmers linked
through a platform
– national pride!
• Young generation
• Focus on the
importance of the
farmer to all of us!

27. Thank you!