AgRover – empowering people. Network

In developing countries, poor roads and few vehicles cause delays in transport resulting in significant post-harvest losses.
Eighty percent of Nigerian farmers are smallholders (41 million), yet many small farms are located far from markets and main roads.
The AgRover is more affordable than a car and can carry more people than a motorcycle.
The AgRover has low manufacturing costs, replacement parts that are readily available, local maintenance, and a carrying capacity of 2,000 lbs.
By reducing the cost and time it takes farmers and traders to transport food and crops, the quality and quantity of food in the market will increase.

With the ability to power attachments like food processors and water pumps, the AgRover can also pull small field implements such as planters and cultivators.

Key Features

The MAPS AgRover is a utility vehicle designed to meet the needs of farmers and agricultural businesses in developing countries. These people traditionally spend a substantial amount of time and effort with transportation and doing manual labor. This farming helper is more affordable than a car, can carry more people than a motorcycle, and unlike Chinese trike competitors, offers a durable chassis with options for utility attachments.

This vehicle has several unique and desired characteristics for developing regions of the world. These include low manufacturing costs, replacement parts that are readily available, local maintenance, and a carrying capacity of 2,000 lbs. With the ability to power attachments like food processors and water pumps, the product can also pull small field implements such as planters and cultivators. Powering attachments and pulling implements, which others cannot, gives the machine a competitive edge on the agricultural market.

Further, testing has shown fuel economies of 40 to 60 mpg (18 to 26 km/l) for the 10 hp diesel engine option under heavy to light loading.

Every component on the vehicle can be found or made in developing countries. Since the MAPS AgRover is made locally and the parts sourced locally, the vehicle can be maintained with significantly less difficulty and cost when compared to most imported equipment, particularly agricultural equipment.

Social Impact

Eighty percent of Nigerian farmers are smallholders (41 million), yet many small farms are located far from markets and main roads. Poor roads (85% unpaved) and few vehicles (31 per 1,000 people) cause delays in transport resulting in significant post-harvest losses, thereby decreasing food security. For example, a study by PIND on the cassava value chain identified transportation as a barrier to producing high quality cassava flour, which requires cassava to be processed within 24 hours of harvest.

Smallholder farmers are directly affected by the problem of transportation. In Ethiopia, farmers say that they need to mechanize, but don’t have access to the technology. In Kenya, smallholder farmers explain their needs for transporting crops. In Nigeria, farmers have expressed the need for what the AgRover can do. In both Kenya and Nigeria, AgRovers are already moving crops for farmers and traders. Importantly, consumers are also affected by the quality and quantity of food from small farms.

By reducing the cost and time it takes farmers and traders to transport food and crops, the quality and quantity of food in the market will increase. With more available food, prices tend to decrease, overall making more food more accessible to more people.

Future Plans

MAPS continues to work with partners in Kenya, Nigeria, and Colombia to manufacture and sell the AgRover and to use the AgRover as a transport service business. In addition to continued improvements to the vehicle design, new products will be added.