All Things Farming

BUSINESS PLAN
@2022

L/12530M, Kasama Road, Lilayi

+260978980990
info@agrigate.co.zm
www.agrigate.co.zm

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Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................. 3
BUSINESS DESCRIPTION ............................................................................................................................... 3
MISSION STATEMENT............................................................................................................................... 3
VISION ....................................................................................................................................................... 4
GOALS ....................................................................................................................................................... 4
VALUES...................................................................................................................................................... 4
PROBLEM STATEMENT.................................................................................................................................. 4
OUR INNOVATIVE SOLUTION ........................................................................................................................ 5
PRODUCTS AND SERVICES ............................................................................................................................ 5
Market Overview.......................................................................................................................................... 8
Target market ........................................................................................................................................... 8
Customer profile....................................................................................................................................... 8
Corporate Brand ....................................................................................................................................... 8
Brand Colours ........................................................................................................................................... 8
Marketing Strategy....................................................................................................................................... 9
PRODUCT .............................................................................................................................................. 9
PLACE ........................................................................................................................................................ 9
PRICE ....................................................................................................................................................... 10
PROMOTION ........................................................................................................................................... 10
PEOPLE .................................................................................................................................................... 10
Process .................................................................................................................................................... 10
Physical evidence ................................................................................................................................... 10
Competitor analysis ................................................................................................................................... 11
Product Pricing Analysis ............................................................................................................................. 12
Unique Selling Points ................................................................................................................................. 13
STANDARD OPERATION PROCEDURE ........................................................................................................ 13
DIGITAL PREPAREDNESS ............................................................................................................................ 14
Accounting system ................................................................................................................................. 14
Statutory Compliance Platforms............................................................................................................ 17

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 Digital marketing .................................................................................................................................... 17
RISK MANAGEMENT AND MITIGATION .................................................................................................... 18
BOARD AND MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE ................................................................................................. 18
Executive Directors................................................................................................................................. 18
NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS.................................................................................................................. 18
Investment Plan ......................................................................................................................................... 19
Fundraising Plan .......................................................................................................................................... 19
5 Year Financial Forecasts ........................................................................................................................... 19

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Agrigate Solutions Ltd. is a profit-making agricultural enterprise that specializes in broiler
chicken farming and processing. The primary reason for entering the livestock industry is to
capitalize on the numerous opportunities available to contribute to the growth of the Zambian
economy and to ensure national food security. We will create jobs for women and youths,
produce raw materials for other industries and also make good profit. Our ambition is to be the
best strategically located poultry farm in Lusaka and to have the best equipment.

BUSINESS DESCRIPTION
Agrigate Solutions Ltd specializes in broiler chicken production and processing. Its registered
office is located at plot L/12530M on Kasama Road in Lilayi, Lusaka Province, Zambia. The
farm is situated close to large residential areas whose corner shops we want to sell our produce
to. We currently have four full-time employees.

MISSION STATEMENT
To provide a wide range of value addition products through rearing and processing of quality
broiler chickens.

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 VISION
To become an established brand in the country.

GOALS
To provide value addition through broiler chicken processing and packaging.
To leverage the wide range of opportunities available in the livestock industry to increase its
supply.
To raise the nation's GDP by creating employment.
To contribute to the domestic food security.
To promote industrialization and zero-waste farming.

VALUES
Diligence To offer our services and products with optimum care and support.
Excellence We provide the best services that meet our customers’ needs.
Exceptionality We are different and unique in our service and product delivery.
Integrity We are honest, transparent and fair in all our business dealings.
Objectivity We undertake our operations without bias or undue influence.
Confidentiality We do not divulge our clients’ or partners’ data and information to third parties.
Professionalism We adhere to ethical practices in all our operations.

PROBLEM STATEMENT
The livestock sector is one of the key economic sectors in Zambia and contributes 3.2 % to the
overall national GDP and 42% to the agricultural GDP. It also accounts for about 35 percent of
national output and animal herding is the only livelihood activity for some traditional farmers in
remote areas. Smallholders use livestock for the household's own consumption, to generate
cash income, and as a form of savings. At household level, livestock plays several socio
economic roles. Livestock sales and consumption account for 6% of the smallholder incomes.
However, depending on the dominant species, the contribution to household income can be as
high as 45%. Livestock serves as an important wealth asset and accounts for 20% of the
productive assets. In other provinces such as Eastern and Southern Province, livestock assets
as a share of productive assets is as high as 40%.

However, the livestock sector in Zambia is segmented into two distinct and poorly coordinated
channels: the commercial livestock sector and the traditional or smallholder livestock sector.
The smallholder sector accounts for 80% of the total livestock in the country and only 20% is
under the Commercial sector. The highest types of livestock reared by the majority smallholder
farmers is chicken followed by cattle and then goats, pigs, guinea fowls and other birds.

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Livestock contributes about 45% to the poorest smallholder household income. Yet, despite the
importance of livestock rearing to smallholders’ livelihoods, the majority of smallholder
production and marketing remains confined to the “traditional” way which is characterized by
poorly coordinated processing and marketing systems that fail to link farmers to the majority
urban consumer markets and obtain great economic value. Out of the reared livestock stated
above, chickens and goats are the highest kind of livestock reared by youths and women, and
they have the poorest processing and marketing system. They are very few commercial
facilities which processes chickens or goats produced by smallholder farmers but rather they
really on live sales on the open market which is characterized by very low prices and
uncertainty. This has for a longtime hindered the progress of the chicken industry thereby
disadvantaging the youths and women who are the key players in the industry

OUR INNOVATIVE SOLUTION

We have resolved to assist youths and women operating in the Zambian chicken industry,
especially in Lusaka and its neighboring communities. Agrigate Solutions Ltd will be setting up
a smallholder’s livestock processing facility that will provide value addition to the chickens
through professional processing, packaging and systematic marketing. The processing facility
shall be privately owned to enhance accountability but it will operate as a social enterprise
targeted at enhancing value proposition of chickens produced by smallholder farmers who will
be affiliated with our enterprise. The facility will affiliate smallholder chicken farmers and
process their products starting with health and safety clearance, slaughtering and cleaning,
standardized grading and pricing, packaging, refrigeration and finally sale to affiliated
customers. This will foster value proposition and enable sales to stable markets at a profitable
price thereby enhance farm profits and facilitate operational expansion.
The targeted established markets to be explored are the super markets, hotel chains and the
regional international markets where livestock products are on demand such as Angola and the
Democratic Republic of Congo. The facility will increase the overall food production in the
country, facilitate international trade within Africa and increase household income for youths
and women.
To benefit from an economy of scale, the processing center will make use of modern
technological equipment’s such as automatic chicken dressing machines to expedite operations
and increase output. This will create more jobs for the youths and women who will work at the
processing facility, the project will also facilitate wealth creation for youths and women who will
now be able to expand their livestock operations due to the stable market linkage that will be
created by the processing center.
This is a livestock value addition business model that can be replicated and used to expedite
economic growth and food security in Zambia. Lack of proper value addition systems is what
often hinders international trade within Africa, thereby limiting business expansion and
economic growth. They are countries that have substantial livestock operation while others
have very limited livestock, therefore the establishment of livestock market linkage business
models for smallholder farmers across the continent will enhance trade and food security in
Africa.

PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

Our main income generating activity is poultry production and processing of broiler chickens.

Commercial Broiler Chickens: We are currently rearing broiler chickens. These will all be

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processed at our small livestock processing facility and sold to supermarkets and local retailers.

Local free range chickens: We also have a network of chicken farmers within Lilayi who will
supply our processing facility with free range chickens.

Maize Farming: An additional source of income comes from rain-fed seasonal crop production.
We have a field where we grow maize every rainy season. The maize is then sold to individual
households and also to millers on the black market.

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Vegetable and Tomato Farming: We also produce vegetables and tomatoes as
supplementary business activities.

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Market Overview

Target market
Zambia has a large chicken market. Chickens are eaten on a daily basis by households, fast
food outlets, restaurants, and at other events. Chickens are in high demand in Lusaka and
around the country since they are much cheaper than red meat and pork.Chilenje, Chalala,
Libala, Lilayi, and Shantumbu are our primary target regions.

Customer profile
Our target customers are local retail outlets like groceries, minimarts and restaurants. These
are in need of a stable regular supply of consumer products and they are often motivated by
price and availability. Their buying patterns are often periodic either weekly or monthly
depending on how their stock is selling.

Corporate Brand
We will process our own chickens; therefore, our brand represents a contribution to economic
growth and value creation.

Brand Colours

Dim Grey Lime Green White

Dim Grey Lime Green White

Marketing Objectives: To establish a stable customer base which we can profitably supply all
the commodities we produce.

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Marketing Strategy
Marketing is an important side of our growth strategy; our business model is on a business to
business sales. We shall have pre-arranged orders with our customers and deliver directly to
them. Our marketing strategy will be centered on the 4P’s of marketing to ensure optimum
results and the expected growth. The P’s include:

➢ Product: The items that we will be selling.

➢ Place: The target market for our products and the sales point.
➢ Price: The cost of acquiring our product.
➢ Promotion: Our communication with customers within our target market.
➢ Process: The systems put in place to meet the customer needs.
➢ People: The people involved in having the products delivered to the customers.
➢ Physical evidence: The actual or evidence of the product we provide.

PRODUCT
Our main products of sales will include:
➢ Broiler Chickens: these are hybrid broiler chickens produced for meat.
➢ Free range chickens: these are local free-range chickens without any genetic
modification.

PLACE
Lusaka is our primary target market. The farm is located in close proximity to large residential
neighborhoods that have many retail outlets whom we target to sell to. These regions have very
little agro production and processing therefore they rely on agro commodities exported from
other regions which are often very expensive because of the long supply chain before they
reach the final consumer. Therefore, we intend to directly take these agro products to the
consumers in these regions through the established retail outlets operating in the region and

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also establishing our own retail outlets. This will short the supply chain for the products and
enable sales at an affordable price for the consumers which in return will give us competitive
advantage.

PRICE
Our products shall be sold at very competitive prices because the farm will produce all the
products we are selling and we will have a lower cost of production because we shall be
operating in an area near the target regions. All these traits give us a competitive advantage to
sell our products at an affordable price. Below is an extract of our price catalogue:
Product Price
Broiler Chickens ZMW 48 per Kg
Free range Chickens ZMW 55 per Kg

PROMOTION

Public relations and communication are an important part of our marketing and growth strategy.
We will be rebranding the whole organisation and set ourselves out on the virtual space to
intensively market our products and engage with our customers on how best we can deliver our
products and services to their satisfaction. We will also be running a series of campaigns
through some popular social media influencers and media personalities to reach our as much
customers as possible.

PEOPLE
Our people are the most important asset we have to sell our brand. We currently have a
competent team of 4 executive’s overseeing our operations. We shall recruit a customer service
assistant who will be responsible of managing our sales portfolio, receiving orders from
customer and facilitating their delivery.

Process
We make use of an efficient and effective system to manage our customers and deliver their
products to their expectation. Our customer orders are received through a web-based business
management system called EaseOnTrack where every customer has an account. The
customer is able to raise a purchase order on the system and the customer service assistant
will process the order by engaging the production and have it dispatched to the customer within
24hrs. Upon receiving the goods, the customer can issue the goods receipt note and provide
any feedback on the condition of the product provided. The system also automatically sends
advertising campaigns to customers on any available promotions, discounts or opportunities.

Physical Evidence
All our products are well packaged and branded to attract the customer and build a strong
brand.

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Competitor analysis
Competi Establish Size Mark Value Strength Weaknes
tor ed date et offered s ses
shar to
e (%) customer
s

Poor link
Strong
with small
distribution
holder
Quality channel,
Staff: farmers,
products, good
7000 centralise
ZAMBEE Accessibil infrastructu
1991 Turnover: 60% d in urban
F ity, re &
K3.8Billio communiti
customer equipment,
n es, poor
service strong
customer
partnership
interaction
s.
.

Poor link
Staff:
Good with small
Legana 100
infrastruct holder
Meat Turnover Quality
2012 2% ure & farmers,
Supplies : Products
equipmen centralise
Ltd K100Milli
t d in urban
on
communiti

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 es, poor
customer
interaction
.

Poor link
with small
Good
Kachema Staff: holder
infrastruct
Meat 150 Quality farmers,
1999 5% ure &
Supplies Turnover Products centralise
equipmen
Ltd : K180m d in urban
t
communiti
es

Poor link
Staff: with small
Good
Termites 100 holder
infrastruct
Meat Turnover Quality farmers,
2016 5% ure &
Suppliers : Products centralise
equipmen
Ltd K100Milli d in urban
t
on communiti
es

Poor link
Staff: with small
Good
Lubona 100 holder
infrastruct
Meat Turnover Quality farmers,
2010 5% ure &
Suppliers : Products centralise
equipmen
Ltd K150Milli d in urban
t
on communiti
es

Product Pricing Analysis

Product or Price Costs Net Profit Competitor Value
Service Price

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 Broiler ZMW 48
ZMW 28 ZMW 20 ZMW 52 per Relatively
Chickens per Kg
per Kg per Kg Kg affordable
Free range ZMW 55
ZMW 30 ZMW 30 ZMW 60 per Relatively
Chickens per Kg
per kg per Kg Tray affordable

Unique Selling Points

➢ Target market: Our competitors are operating from outside Lusaka but we are
operating right within our target market.
➢ Social Impact: Our business model incorporates small holder farmers in the value chain
as producers thereby providing a stable market and source of livelihood for the farmers.
➢ Supply Model: We have a relationship with local groceries, mini marts and restaurants
which we shall supply our products. This gives us wider market coverage unlike our
competitors that depend on their outlets only.
➢ Pricing: our products are produced and processed within our target market, this
reduces our operation costs and enables us to price slightly lower than our competitors.

STANDARD OPERATION PROCEDURE

Customer Registration: Every customer completes a KYC form to derive their basic data and
create a profile for them on our system. The profile includes contact information which is used
to send marketing campaigns.

Supplier Registration: Every supplier completes a vendor registration form to derive their
basic information and create a profile for them on our system. The profile includes contact
information, bank details and business registration details.

Sales Procedure: our sales procedure starts by receiving a purchase order from a registered
customer on the system, the purchased order is reviewed and the products are dispatched to
the customer with a goods receipt note. Upon receiving the goods, the customer signs the good
receipt note and an invoice is automatically generated on the system clearly stating the amount
payable by the customer and the payment period. The customer will them make a bank or
mobile money transfer for the payable amount and the system will automatically match the
payment with the relating invoice during the daily bank reconciliation to complete the
transaction.

Purchases Procedure: Our purchasing procedure starts by raising a purchase order to a

registered supplier on the system, the purchase order is sent to the supplier who will prepare
the products and have them delivered together with an invoice. Our finance team will them
prepare a payment for the invoice and make a bank or mobile money transfer to the supplier.

Payroll Procedure: Our payroll is prepared at the end of every month on our accounting
system. The payroll includes basic pay for each staff and the necessary statutory deductions,
the payroll sheet is extracted from the system in excel and uploaded on the internet banking
platform to initiate a bulk payment to respective employee accounts.

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DIGITAL PREPAREDNESS
Agrigate Solutions Ltd strongly believes in utilizing digital platforms to improve efficiency in our
operations. This is the reason why we operate a virtual workplace that allows our team to work
from anywhere and effectively integrates our operations with our key stakeholders to facilitate
efficiency. Our operations are undertaken through a business management system called
EaseOnTrack.

ACCOUNTING SYSTEM
Our finances are managed through a web-based accounting system called EaseOnTrack.

Purchases: All our purchases are made through EaseOn Track by raising a purchase order.

Sales: All our sales are recorded on EaseOnTrack by raising an invoice

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Fixed Assets Management: We maintain an up to date fixed assets register on EaseOnTrack.

Bank Reconciliation: our bank account has been integrated with EaseOnTrack to undertake
automatic bank reconciliations on a daily basis.

Payroll: Our payroll is prepared and managed on EaseOnTrack, before extracting an excel
template from the system which is uploaded on internet banking to facilitate a bulk payment to
employees.

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Budgeting & Forecasting: Our budgets and financial forecasts are undertaken on
EaseOnTrack.

Financial Reports: Our periodic financial reports are automatically prepared on EaseOnTrack.

Internet Banking: all our transactions are undertaken via internet banking.

Internet Banking Platforms:

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Internet banking platform Mobile money platform

Mobile Money Platforms:

Information Management System: our information is kept on a web-based information

management system.

Statutory Compliance Platforms

Below are the digital platforms we make use of to ensure compliance with statutory
organisation.

Tax Payments Pension Payments Health Insurance payments

Digital Marketing
Below are the platforms we use to market our products and services.

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RISK MANAGEMENT AND MITIGATION

No. Risk Mitigation

1 Bio security risk: the risk of a disease
out break among the livestock.
2 Power failure: a power cut can cause
massive losses due to stock going bad
in the cold room.
3 Fire, storm or other natural disastors that
can destroy property.
4 Financial risks: misappropriation or
embezzelment.
5 Environmental risk: air pollution, water
pollution and over grazing.
6 Pilferage: dealing in livestock there is a
high risk of pilferage either by workers or
outsiders.
7 Technological failure: we operate a
virtual workspace where information is
saved online.
Strict vaccinantion, bio security measures
and livestock insurance is mandatory.
We shall have a back up power generator
to be used when there is a power cut.
Property insurance.
Strict financial controls and audits.
We are setting up environmental
protection guidelines that promote eco
friendly operations.
Proper physical security has been
installed and regular stock taking is
undertaken.
Our systems are regularly updated and
we have a full time IT specialist who
insures that our system is secure.

BOARD AND MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE

We believe in accountability and transparency as fundamental principles of good corporate
governance practice. That is why our cooperative is presided by a board consisting 4 non-
executive directors and 2 executive directors. Below is a full board structure of our enterprise:

Executive Directors
Chief Executive Officer: Lungwani Muungo – Is an Information Technology expert who holds
a Bachelor’s degree in ICT. He is experienced in IT System Administration and in Project
Management. He started farming in 2018 and has successfully produced cycles of rain-fed
maize and broiler chickens.
Chief Operations Officer: Nasilele Muungo – Is an architect with vast experience in
Architecture and in Project Management. She holds a Bachelor of Architecture degree and a
Master of Urban Design degree. She has been a registered architect with the Zambia Institute
of Architects since 2012. She has been involved in farming activities since 2015 when the
responsibility of running her parents’ farm was left in her hands. She has experience growing
maize, vegetables and rearing broiler chickens.

Non-Executive Directors
Chairperson: Mr Puteho Namakando
Vice Chairperson: Mrs Nañunyi Namakando
Board Member: Mr Harry Ngoma

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 Board Member: Mrs Liywalii Mwasile

Investment Plan
The overall investment amount required to launch operations is ZMW 500,000; this includes the
full budget for capital expenditure and working capital. Below are the full budget details:
Capital expenditure: a total amount of ZMW 391,500 from the funds raised will be used to
acquire or set up capital items that will assist in the business expansion and growth of the
business. These will include:

Item Quantity Amount (ZMW)

Acquisition and installation of cold storage facility 1 100,000
Feather remover machine 1 15,000
Electric meat mincer 42" 1 47,500
Hydraulic sausage filler 1 67,500
Electric Bowl cutter 1 38,500
Band saw 380V – Atlas 1 49,500
Wrapping machine 1 2500
Electric cooker cabinet 170 Liters 1 45,500
Vacuum pack machine 1 25,500
Total Capital Expenditure 391,500
Working Capital: The remaining 108,500 will be used as working capital for branding, marketing
and raising a 1,000 stock of broilers.

Fundraising Plan
Source Amount
Agrigate Solutions Ltd. 200,000
CEEC 300,000

Agrigate Solutions Ltd will contribute 50% of the total investment amount required through share
subscriptions among the members. We have so far managed to raise ZMW 100,000 share capital
contributions and we expect to raise the remaining amount of ZMW 100,000 by 31st December
2022.

5 Year Financial Forecasts

NARATION Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5

Revenue 6,528,000.00 7,833,600.00 9,400,320.00 11,280,384.00 13,536,460.80

Cost of Sales 4,920,000.00 5,904,000.00 7,084,800.00 8,501,760.00 10,202,112.00

Gross Profit 1,608,000.00 1,929,600.00 2,315,520.00 2,778,624.00 3,334,348.80

Personal Costs 113,000.00 113,000.00 135,600.00 135,600.00 162,720.00
Marketing &Sales 65,280.00 65,280.00 78,336.00 78,336.00 94,003.20
Administration 32,640.00 32,640.00 39,168.00 39,168.00 47,001.60
Expenses
Other Operating 195,840.00 235,008.00 282,009.60 338,411.52 406,093.82
Costs

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 Depreciation 78,300.00 78,300.00 78,300.00 78,300.00 78,300.00
Total Expenses 485,060.00 524,228.00 613,413.60 669,815.52 788,118.62
PBT 1,122,940.00 1,405,372.00 1,702,106.40 2,108,808.48 2,546,230.18
Income tax 360,372.00 445,101.60 534,121.92 656,132.54 787,359.05
PAT 762,568.00 960,270.40 1,167,984.48 1,452,675.94 1,758,871.12

Explanatory Notes:
1. The financials are prepared on the assumption that 8 cycles of 1000 broilers will be kept
per annum.
2. The financial are prepared on the assumption that at least 5000 broilers will be supplied
by local small holder farmers per month.
3. The financial are prepared on the assumption that a 20% increase in capacity will be attain
in the subsequent years.

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