Description

FAMS is an integrated digital platform developed under a GIZ initiative to support agribusinesses and agricultural cooperatives in Mozambique. The system lets organisations monitor, manage and digitise operations across the entire agricultural value chain from farmer registration and field data collection through to purchase management, stock control and mobile payments. The core technical challenge was ensuring that field agents in rural areas with no network coverage could work normally and sync later, with no data loss and no duplication.

My Role and Contributions

• Full-Stack Development: Built and maintained the core backend modules and frontend interfaces, including farmer management, purchase workflows, stock control, Payment Wallats and reporting dashboards.

• Plugin Architecture: Designed and maintained the modular system that dynamically enables or disables features such as Traceability, E-Payment, SMS Communication, Stock Management and Field Visits through environment configuration.

• Mobile API and Synchronisation: Developed the RESTful endpoints powering the mobile app, enabling offline data collection and intelligent synchronisation between the field and the central platform.

• Multilingual System: Implemented a dynamic multi-language interface supporting Portuguese, English and configurable regional dialects, with middleware-based language switching.

• Reporting and Data Export: Built full Excel and PDF export with organisational branding, auto-sized columns and print-ready formatting across every module.

Key Features

• Farmer Database and Digital Dossier: Complete producer registration with georeferenced field locations, identity documents, production history and digital documentation.

• Agricultural Purchase Management: End-to-end tracking from field to factory, including weighing controls, payments and transport guides for full traceability.

• Stock and Input Control: Warehouse inventory management and input distribution tracking with automatic reconciliation based on recorded deliveries.

• Surveys and Training Management: Dynamic questionnaire builder, training session tracking, participant certificates and bulk SMS messaging.

• Mobile App with Offline Support: A companion app for field agents with fully offline data collection and intelligent sync back to the web platform.

• Analytical Dashboards with GIS: Interactive charts and geographic mapping to support data-driven decisions across all modules.

Technologies Used

• Backend: Laravel with a modular plugin architecture, RESTful API and Spatie Laravel Permission for role-based access control.

• Frontend: Blade with JavaScript, Chart.js for dashboards, Form.io for dynamic surveys and the Google Maps API for GIS features.

• Database: MySQL with soft deletes, audit trails and queries optimised for large-scale farmer datasets.

• Mobile Integration: RESTful API with Laravel Sanctum for authentication, offline-first synchronisation and data integrity safeguards.

• Payments and Communication: M-Pesa integration for mobile payments to farmers and the USendit API for bulk SMS notifications.

Results and Impact

• Farmers Digitised: [insert number] producers registered on the platform with a complete digital dossier.

• Operation in Offline Areas: Field agents can now collect data where there is no coverage, eliminating paper forms and the manual re-typing that followed.

• End-to-End Traceability: Every purchase is now traceable from farmer to factory  a hard requirement for compliance in donor-funded value chains.