Tec and World Bank seek to optimize Mexican countryside’s value chain

The Tec School of Engineering and Sciences is leading a multi-faculty project, in association with the World Bank (WB) and the federal Ministry of Health, to optimize the value chain of the Mexican agricultural industry by including small producers.

The WB has asked the Tec to “map” the current state of the value chain in the Mexican countryside, its main challenges, and how it has been affected by the pandemic, so as to be able to identify solutions.

Sergio Uribe Gutiérrez, Director of the Center for Innovation in Design and Technology, said that the initiative seeks to facilitate the task of selling vegetables and dairy products through an inclusive strategy supported by digital technologies which will prevent losses and price volatility.

“Our final goal is to establish and design a marketplace which supports an optimal value chain through the use of digital platforms.

“Through this, we seek to include all participants in the value chain, especially small producers,” said Uribe Gutiérrez, who is also a Tec professor.

The project involves the School of Social Sciences and Government and the Business School through INCmty, the largest entrepreneurship festival in Latin America, organized by Tec de Monterrey.

This entrepreneurship festival seeks to find a model in the entrepreneurial ecosystem in which everyone can come together, farm workers and distributors, within the framework of an innovative digital proposal.

Uribe Gutiérrez stressed that the digital platform will bring important benefits to the value chain, as it will have the necessary functions to carry out transactions, marketing, and negotiation, as well as organize and coordinate distribution.
 

“Our final goal is to establish and design a marketplace which supports an optimal value chain through the use of digital platforms.”

This will allow products to reach the end consumer faster, with fewer intermediaries, directly impacting on the variation in prices.

“We want to help understand how the value chain in the countryside has been affected as a result of the pandemic and to be able to propose a solution supported by digital technologies to optimize marketing, prevent waste, and support small producers,” said Uribe.

THE SCOPE OF THE PROJECT

• Mapping and analysis of relevant Mexican value chains
• Identifying the main challenges in value chains (both in the present and the future)
• Identifying and evaluating digital solutions for aggregation and the sale of perishable goods
• Designing the digital architecture
• Planning a pilot project

Relevant factors to consider:

• Participation by small producers
• Reducing and optimizing value chains
• Reduction of value chain waste
• Better product prices for participating producers

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