From 20th April to 30th of July 2022, hundreds of participants, young professionals, investors, and development partners from the fields of agriculture, finance, and technology, came together to be part of the third edition of the AFEX Code Cash Crop Hackathon: Disrupting Agriculture Trade Infrastructure. The hackathon took place in Oriental Hotel Lagos with 6 finalists pitching innovative business solutions with a shared goal: to solve the challenges faced in Africa’s food systems.

At the end of the hackathon, 3 participants emerged winners and were awarded a whopping sum of money, training school, and mentorship class as channels of support to bring their ideas to fruition.

We sat down with the winner of Code Cash Crop 3.0, Prince Achoja, to talk about his journey and the secret ingredient to winning the hackathon.

Tell us about yourself.

My name is Prince Achoja and I hail from Kano State, Nigeria. I am a young tech entrepreneur passionate about solving problems in communities leveraging technology. I am a product designer and a founder of a growing tech hub in Kano as well as Ma’aji, an agro fintech platform in Kano.

How did you hear about the Hackathon? What was your motivation to sign up for it?

One day I was working on my laptop, and I got tired. I decided to take a time out by scrolling through social media and I found out about Code Cash Crop 3.0 on AFEX’s Instagram page. It was random. I was scrolling through posts, and it popped up. I applied almost immediately because it connects agriculture, finance, and technology together. As a young entrepreneur, I have always wanted to build solutions that relate to the fintech style. So, the name alone was a motivation to apply for the competition.

What was the idea of the project? Can you describe in a few words your solution?

Our solution Ma’aji is a Hausa word that means payments and savings.

It is a fintech platform that offers farmers access to relevant information, Agro experts’ loans, and a swift platform upline using USSD while having a financial wallet and carrying out financial services on the platform. This eliminates the need for a third party like the banks.

Farmers can send pictures of their goods and interact with their clients without going through third parties for both physical and financial services. The platform leverages the simplicity and user-friendliness like language transcription options where the farmer can select his preferred language and also voice interaction options to chat with clients.

When did you first begin exploring this idea?

The Idea was conceived a year ago. Its sole focus was on fintech to serve as a platform for financial innovations. It was first built in February. The hackathon’s problem statement helped us gain insight into speaking with farmers to know the pressing issues and problems they faced. We realized that access to information in their local dialect was the major issue, so we tailored Ma’aji to that.

What was the most challenging part of the hackathon for you?

The most challenging aspect wasn’t even the building of the platform, it was the phase where I saw other contestants talk about their brilliant creations and solutions, it caused a sense of chills. I had to go back and work all night to put touches where necessary.

Another challenge was when the mentor AFEX provided had to change my slides from the beginning, I remember thinking I had the worst slide amongst everyone, having to start that afresh was tasking. However, I am grateful because it was a lovely avenue to learn.

**What’s life after Code Cash Crop 3.0 looking for you? **

Life has been awesome; I have gained recognition from the publicity the Hackathon afforded me. I have also implemented a lot of the tips and advice the judges gave to me. I am looking forward to the full implementation of Ma’aji to help farmers solve these problems.

Key advice for next year’s Code Cash Crop 4.0 participants?

Firstly, I’d start by appreciating the entire AFEX team for putting together a wonderful platform to identify young people in the Agrotech community and sector.

My advice to Code Cash Crop 4.0 participants is to ensure that you are solving a real problem, and not build a solution because of the hackathon there will be a life for the product after the event. Make sure that the solution is tangible, and the impact is wide stream. Lastly, believe in the process and believe in what AFEX will train you to do. Remember, the sky is your limit!