The dairy sector is experiencing significant growth globally. Over 6 billion people currently consume dairy products, and this number is set to rise as global demand increases, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. At the same time, milk production serves as a critical income source for approximately 150 million households worldwide, most of whom are smallholders. This growing demand offers an opportunity to enhance efficiency and productivity across the dairy value chain, both for smallholder producers and for aggregators and milk processors.
This blog explores how MooMe, a Tunisia-based agritech and a member of the GSMA AgriTech Accelerator cohort, combines farming expertise with mobile technology to make the dairy value chain more efficient, empowering farmers to make more informed decisions while providing agribusinesses with data to improve their extension services, record keeping and climate reporting.
Challenges of the dairy value chain
Both farmers and buy-side agribusinesses face unique challenges that contribute to inefficiencies in the dairy value chain. Smallholder dairy farmers often experience below-average yields, primarily due to limited access to information about best practices in livestock management. Without effective extension services, farmers struggle to adopt techniques that could improve productivity and animal health. Furthermore, the lack of awareness regarding the benefits of data-driven decision making have an adverse impact on their incomes and livelihoods.
On the agribusiness side, a major challenge is the lack of data to provide actionable advisory to their supplier farmers. Without insights into feed and herd management practices, agribusinesses cannot effectively support farmers in enhancing productivity and quality. An additional, emerging challenge for buy-side agribusinesses is the lack of reliable data required for compliance with carbon-footprint reporting on their supplier farms.
Together, these issues highlight a need for innovative solutions to bridge knowledge gaps, improve data collection and analysis, and support both farmers and agribusinesses in building a more efficient and sustainable dairy value chain.
Improving livestock management with MooMe
Launched in 2018, MooMe is dedicated to empowering smallholder dairy farmers and buy-side agribusinesses with data-driven solutions that foster sustainable and profitable growth. The platform leverages technology to equip dairy farmers and extension agents with user-friendly, country-specific management tools, enabling informed decision-making.
MooMe provides distinct value propositions for dairy farmers and dairy corporates. For farmers, the MooMe app uses their data inputs to provide advisory on heat detection and feed management, helping to optimise productivity. For dairy agribusinesses and cooperatives, access to farmers’ data allows them to provide more effective extension services while addressing critical needs such as risk management and compliance with carbon emissions and sustainability standards.
Figure 1: MooMe in the field
Successes to date
The app is currently actively used by over 1,000 farmers, 98% of whom are using a dairy management app for the first time, managing a total of 12,000 registered animals. According to a third-party survey conducted by 60 decibels in 2023, 70% of surveyed MooMe users reported an increase in production, while 80% highlighted an improvement in their quality of life thanks to the platform.
For dairy corporates, the benefits have equally been impressive. Those using the platform reported up to 70% savings in extension costs, a fourfold increase in farmer outreach and a 40% reduction in software costs compared to mainstream commercial solutions. At the same time, they have been able to enhance their reporting on their Environment, Sustainability and Governance (ESG) commitments.
Partnerships with leading dairy corporates, such as Friesland Campina, have enabled MooMe’s expansion from Tunisia into six additional markets, while the start-up successfully raised over $400,000 in equity funding to support its growth.
Promoting behaviour change
Despite these achievements, many challenges hinder MooMe’s journey to scale. One of the most pressing challenges is driving behavioural change around accurate record-keeping. Discussions with farmers revealed that most still see livestock through a subsistence lens – prioritising milk and other dairy products for household consumption before selling any surplus. As a result, they often do not keep records of essential data, such as animal birth, heat cycles or feed management. The only records typically maintained, often on paper as illustrated below, are for daily production and sales.
Figure 2: Paper-based records for dairy production and sales
A second, associated challenge, is the limited digital literacy of farmers. Many struggle to input data, such as animal birth and feed consumption, into the app in a timely manner, and often find it difficult to interpret the dashboards’ recommendations. In addition, some farmers get confused by the app’s multitude of features.
To support MooMe in overcoming these challenges, the GSMA is providing technical assistance in key areas such as user experience research, product iteration recommendations, growth strategy development, data analytics and third-party monitoring and evaluation to identify areas of improvement for the service.
In response to challenges associated with digital literacy, uncovered during user experience research, MooMe, the GSMA AgriTech team, and our product design partners, Bopinc, conducted a workshop to jointly rethink the app’s design and user experience. Together, we prioritised simplifying the app by focusing on three data entry points for farmers: daily milk volume, weekly or monthly feed consumption, and key reproduction parameters such as calving or insemination dates. By streamlining data entry and providing an easier-to-understand dashboard layout, the app delivers targeted recommendations on heat detection, productivity improvements and optimised feed management.
To promote a culture of record-keeping, MooMe is working with dairy corporates on farmer capacity building through trainings. By demonstrating tangible benefits, such as improved incomes and herd health, the team aims to shift perceptions and encourage the adoption of more robust record-keeping practices.
The pathway to scale
To scale its services, MooMe is actively pursuing partnerships with buy-side agribusinesses for which farm-level data plays a pivotal role in driving their growth by allowing them to actively monitor herds, provide timely extension support at low cost and improve transparency in the value chain. At the same time, the existing farmer networks that form part of the agribusinesses’ supply chain provide a low-cost and value-driven entry point for MooMe’s ambitions to scale.
In parallel, MooMe is exploring collaborations with B2B stakeholders such as other agritech service providers and mobile network operators. These partnerships aim to broaden MooMe’s reach and amplify its impact, leveraging complementary expertise to transform the dairy farming ecosystem efficiently at scale.
Conclusion
The GSMA AgriTech Accelerator remains committed to supporting further product iteration and scaling of the MooMe service over the coming six months. As Ahmed Ben Achballah, MooMe’s co-founder, says:
“There is immense potential for agritech startups, especially in emerging markets. However, challenges related to adoption and engagement remain. Over the past five years, two key insights have stood out: building strategic partnerships and integrating complementary solutions among agritech startups that can greatly simplify the journey, making it both more impactful and rewarding.”
