1. PINEAPPLE EXPRESS
Peer learning & peer networking
for Sri Lankan pineapple farmers
Presented at RHoK
December 4, 2011

2. THE BRIEF

3. Background
• Pineapple farming is simple and lucrative.
• Myths and challenges around the crop in Sri
Lanka.
• 3 ways to grow pineapples: starting with saplings
is most common.
• A bad sapling yields a bad crop, with no way to
tell until 2 years later at harvest.
• Pineapples as a product: types, size, quality, etc.
• Sri Lanka has Provinces/Districts/Cities

4. Farmers
• Farmers need a tool to reduce cost of
acquisition and increase sales.
• Access to WAP/SMS, limited/infrequent web
access.
• Incoming calls are free: cell phone services are
among the cheapest in the world.
• Want ability to crowd source information &
better sources/buyers.

5. Buyers & Administrators
• Have more access to the internet.
• Buyers willing to travel (or outsource) for top
crops.
• Buyers resell pineapples (hotels, canneries,
etc.) to customers
• Prices are negotiated per kg or per unit.
• Administrators like Helani need moderation &
reporting tools.

6. OUR VISION

7. Why We Chose This Project
• Clear ask with clear goals
– Save farmers 11% cost, increase sales, provide
resources.
• Scalable & extensible
– Tools can be repurposed for other agricultural
products and other industries.
• Inspiring challenge
– Give indebted farmers the ability to make smarter
choices, promote themselves, and succeed!

8. Our Approach
• Priority 1: Drive sales for farmers
– Other features for sapling purchase, ratings, buyer
requests to come later.
– Divide & conquer agile pairings for dev.
• Strong usability
– Intuitive, simple interfaces.
• Design for the culture
– Preference for warm, rich and lively earth tones.
• Source value-added content
– Internet access may be limited, but good information
spreads.

9. Our Challenges
• Older technology
• Limited exposure to WAP
development in North America
• Lack of documentation
• Limited time & resources

10. Our Objective
Help farmers sell more crops at lower cost/aquisition!

11. OUR SOLUTION

12. Overview
B2B Marketplace connecting Farmers & Buyers
• Website
– Value-added information & content
– Data (Farmer Directory, daily market value/area, etc.)
– Promote the project
– Open Source CMS
– Easy to build on or replicate for other scenarios
• WAP in-field tools
– Registration
– Subscription
– Listings

13. Functionality
Registration Process
• Simple: phone number, location, name
• Phone based WAP registration
• Auth via SMS: password is sent via text message
• Locations are pre-populated (choice-based)

14. Functionality
Posting Your Product
• Via WAP: phone number, password
• Information
– Quantity (units)
– Price (per unit)
– When (date when harvest available)
– Size (1-5)
– Quality (1-5)
– Returns a listing ID

15. Functionality
Buyers
• WAP interface for listing entries
• Location filters
• 5/page navigation - 2'000KB limit per WAP page

16. Implementation
• Wordpress plugin
• Multilingual support
• Large user base
• Easy to install and administer
• Complements the informative nature of the
site
• 2 extra database tables
• bit.ly shortcuts for WAP

17. FUTURE OF PINEAPPLE EXPRESS

18. Getting to Market
• Complete the software
– Wrap up the WAP
– Finalize website (value-added features, content)
• Trial Release
– Sample field release in Sri Lanka: target ENG users
– Launch the WP Open Source Plug-in
• Full field release
– Final bug fixes & translation in Sinhala rolled out
together

19. Phase 2… and Beyond!
• Promote the PHP plug-in
– Feature site for the tool
– Beyond pineapples
– Multi-sector repurposing:
• Real Estate
• Agriculture
• Consumer Advocacy
• Etc…
• Build recognition & dev community
– Open source on bitbucket
– Available on Wordpress
– Writing simple and clean APIs for websites

20. CONCLUSION

21. That’s it, that’s all! Questions?