Raising Farmers' Earnings at Local Markets: Product Design and Two-Sided Launch Plan

Imagine a product whose purpose is to help farmers earn more for the crops they sell at their local markets. Design the product, and lay out how you would bring it to market. Your plan should focus on incentives that give both sides of the market a reason to take part: the farmers who supply the crops and the buyers who make up the demand. ### Clarifying Questions - Which setting is intended: smallholders selling at wholesale markets in a developing economy, or farmers selling directly to shoppers at farmers' markets in a wealthy one? - Who makes up the demand side: traders and wholesalers, shops and restaurants, or households? - What counts as better value: a higher price per kilo, less produce left unsold or spoiled, lower costs to reach the market, or faster payment? - What phones, connectivity and payment methods can farmers be assumed to have? ### Part 1 — Design the product Choose the farmers and buyers you are designing for, explain why farmers capture less value than they could today, and design the product, including what it does for each side and what goes into the first version. ```hint Follow one harvest Trace one farmer's crop from the field to the buyer and mark every point where the farmer loses money or bargaining power; decide which of those points your product should change. ``` #### What This Part Should Cover - The chosen farmer and buyer segments and the reason for the choice - The causes of lost value for farmers, ranked - Core features for each side and a scoped first version ### Part 2 — Go to market with incentives on both sides Explain how you would launch: where you would start, how you would win the first farmers and buyers, which incentives would bring each side in and keep it, and how you would break the chicken-and-egg problem between them. Say how you would know the launch is working. ```hint Pick the side to seed Work out which side is harder to attract and whose presence draws the other side in, then design the first incentives around that side. ``` #### What This Part Should Cover - A launch market and the side seeded first, with the reasoning - Incentives for farmers and for buyers, including what keeps each side once launch incentives end - Channels for reaching each side and early signals of marketplace health ### What a Strong Answer Covers - One definition of better value that the product design and the metrics share - A go-to-market plan consistent with the product's first version - A business model: who pays, and whether the economics hold once incentives taper - Success metrics with guardrails, and risks such as pushback from intermediaries, trust and quality disputes ### Follow-up Questions - If local traders stop buying from farmers who use the product, what would you do? - How would you show that farmers earn more because of the product rather than because of a good season? - What would keep buyers coming back once launch discounts end?