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Biztigation 2024 Case Round 1

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19 views

Biztigation 2024 Case Round 1

Uploaded by

educationstuff01
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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FOOD PRICE HIKE

A TALE OF MIDDLEMAN AND POST HARVEST LOSS

Detective Heshela is looking into the issue related to the rising


cost of agricultural products.
The rising food cost is a problem which can be broken down into
further sub-points. Two of the biggest reasons are the existence of
middlemen and the lack of proper post harvest management.

How do middlemen contribute to rising food price?


A significant challenge in the agricultural sector is the presence of
multiple intermediaries between farmers and consumers. This
multi-layered system, involving 5 to 6 middlemen, leads to
increased transaction costs and inflated prices. As a result,
consumers often pay 100-300% more for vegetables in urban
markets compared to their farm prices.

A report by the Asian Development Bank named "Dysfunctional


Horticulture Value Chains and the Need for Modern Marketing
Infrastructure: The Case of Bangladesh," further emphasizes this
issue. It reveals that farmers receive less than 40% of the final
consumer price, while merchants and intermediaries capture a
substantial 43%. The remaining 17% is allocated to various
expenses like transportation, storage, and packaging.

Agricultural economists attribute this market


inefficiency to a breakdown in the supply chain.
This dysfunctionality results in losses for both
producers and consumers. In contrast,
farmers in developed countries typically
receive around 80% of the final retail
price, benefiting from efficient market.
How is the lack of proper post harvest management affecting food
prices?

Post-harvest loss occurs during the stages between harvesting and


consumption, including handling, transportation, storage, processing,
marketing, and distribution. It can lead to significant losses in terms
of quantity and quality of agricultural produce. Each year, up to
20-44% of fruits and vegetables are wasted in Bangladesh, resulting
in estimated annual losses of $2.4 billion [US-based LixCap] due to
insufficient storage facilities. Bangladesh often resorts to importing
instead of exporting these products due to the lack of cold chain
infrastructure.

Heshela is astonished by the aforementioned reports. She wants to


dig deeper into the reasons as to how the middlemen are earning a
significant amount of profit. She deduced a few reasonings:

1. High Transportation and Operational Costs: As agricultural


products travel longer distances, transportation costs increase,
which are often passed on to consumers. Middlemen, who play a
crucial role in the supply chain, often exploit this situation by
underpaying farmers while maintaining their own profit margins.
The poor infrastructure in many rural areas further exacerbates
this problem, leading to high post-harvest losses which
contribute to price fluctuations and limit the availability of fresh
produce in urban markets.
2. Lack of Regulation and Transparency: The absence of effective
regulation in the agricultural market allows middlemen to
operate with little oversight, leading to a lack of transparency.
Many transactions between farmers and middlemen occur
without proper documentation, such as receipts or written
contracts. This lack of transparency makes it difficult for farmers
to challenge unfair pricing practices and for consumers to
understand the true cost of food products. Middlemen can
manipulate prices to their advantage, further exacerbating the
issue of low farmer incomes and high consumer prices.
Detective Heshela is devastated to see how the farmers are being
exploited. She wants to come up with a solution to this but needs
help from your team! She has recently been introduced with the
concept of digitalization and thinks this can be implemented here to
reduce the impact of middleman and also ensure better preservation
of crops. But she is unsure of the usage of digitalization for the latter
cause.

Your Tasks:
1. Carefully craft solutions which tackle both the issues of
intermediaries and post harvest losses. There could be two
different solutions for two of the issues. However, you are
expected to link them both into one proper GTM strategy.
2. Focus on branding and promotional activities which cater to
your selected target audience.
3. You are required to do some basic financials and budgeting for
your ideas (you do not have to create any financial statements).
INSTRUCTIONS
The solution has to be submitted in PDF and PPTX format. No
other format will be accepted.
The presentation file should be limited to 17 slides
Your solution file (Both PDF and PPTX) should be named in
the following manner: Team Name_Round 1_Biztigation2024.
(For example: Hilsha Tank_Round 1_Biztigation2024)
The participant’s name or institution’s name should not be
mentioned on any slide. This rule must be strictly followed or
else it will lead to disqualification.
Submission link: https://forms.gle/xtyu4LAVZEJmYnCA6
The solution must be submitted only through the Google
Form. Create a folder in google drive and rename it according
to the aforementioned format. Upload both pptx and pdf in
that folder. You have to attach google drive link of that folder
in the google form. Enable the viewer access for everyone. No
other mode of submission is acceptable.
Usage of AI to craft solution is highly discouraged. Let your
creativity shine!
Not abiding by the rules will result in penalty or
disqualification.
Submission Deadline: November 5, 2024 [11:59 P.M.]

The executive panel of Biztigation 2024 holds the authority to


update or change any rules and regulations of the competition at
any time without any prior notice.
JUDGEMENT CRITERIA

CRITERIA MARKS

Situation Analysis 10

Target Group Analysis 05

Big Idea 20

Feasibility 20

Incorporating SDG 05

Digitalization 15

Financials 05

Justification 10

Aesthetic sense and Creativity 05

Alternative Evaluation 05

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