Full Project – Design and implementation of an eCommerce system for agricultural products ordering and delivery
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF STUDY
The internet has generated massive changes in markets, private and public sectors and economies of today‘s world. One aspect of internet application that is gaining renewed interest and fame is the use of internet for development and poverty reduction. Both national governments and donor communities are realizing huge benefits the Internet can bring to poor communities living in remote areas, particularly the farmers and are adopting strategies to maximize this potential. The internet reduces transaction costs, changes markets structures, integrates global and local markets, and creates employment opportunities. As such the Internet can have a big impact in stimulating local micro-economies and raising the purchasing power of rural peoples. Success stories and experiences from other developing countries about how the internet has lowered poverty levels in those areas have encouraged the government and many NGOS in Nigeria to adopt rural automation. A number of farming-oriented information systems have been developed by donor communities to manage farming process.
Due to the great increase in the awareness of internet and the technologies associated with it, several opportunities are coming up on the web. So many businesses and companies now venture into their business with ease because of the internet. One of such business that the internet introduced is the web based ordering system.
Until recently, most of the delivery orders were placed over the phone, but there are many disadvantages to this system. It is possible for anybody to order any goods via the internet and have the goods delivered at his/her doorsteps. But while trying to discuss the transfer method of the goods and services, attention is focused on the payment mode. In other words, how possible is it to pay for goods and services via the internet? This then leads to the discussion of the economic consequences of digital cash. What are the implementations from the view point of economic? Since the world is fast becoming a global village, the necessary tool for this process is communication of which telecommunication is a key player. A major breakthrough is the wireless telephone system which comes in either fixed wireless telephone lines or the Global System of Mobile communication (GSM).
What I propose is an online ordering system originally designed for use in the agriculture business, but just as applicable in any sector of the agriculture industry. The main advantage of this system is that it greatly simplifies the ordering process for both the customer and the farmer. The system also greatly lightens the load on the farmers’ end, as the entire process of taking orders is automated. Once an order is placed on the webpage that will be designed, it is placed into the database and then retrieved, in pretty much real-time, by a dashboard application on the farmer’s end. Within this application, all items in the order are displayed, along with their corresponding options and delivery details, in a concise and easy to read manner. This allows the farmers to quickly go through the orders as they are placed and produce the necessary items with minimal delay and confusion. The greatest advantage of this system is its flexibilty.
1.2 STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
The local farm market faces widespread rip-offs and limited access to expanded market. Middlemen and other unscrupulous elements buy agricultural products at very low prices from the farmers, taking advantage of their ignorance of prevailing market rates resulting in farmers losing millions of naira worth of their business.
The current circumstances have also denied the farmers the opportunity of accessing the international market and expanding the volume of their trade. Unless this condition is significantly addressed through a vibrant marketing service, farmers will continue to lose real value for their business and face increased odds in trade.
1.3 OBJECTIVES OF STUDY
The aim of the study is to develop a web portal that will address the information needs of the farmers. The following are the objectives:
- Develop a platform where customers will be able to gather more and reliable information about agricultural products.
- The products and services offered would provide the customers with all the different categories of available agricultural products that they can choose and order from.
- This will provide a user friendly environment between the customer and employee thus increasing the efficiency of the agricultural products ordering system.
- There will also be an online enquiries form with which customers will use to get in touch with the farmers.
- It will also help for easy retrieval of orders made by the customers.
1.4 SCOPE OF STUDY
The scope of the study was limited to establishing the information needs of the farmers and developing a agricultural products ordering and delivery web portal to serve these needs.
1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY
The study findings add new dimensions to the fields of web computing and management information systems through advancement of a new web technology-based approach to solve persistent problems in farming and sales. The findings are further, hoped to solve, via the proposed web portal, the main problems bedeviling the farmers such as inability to access international market, low animal prices and frauds in agricultural products supply chain.
1.6 LIMITATIONS
During the process of developing this project work, some challenges were encountered. These include:
- Lack of Power Supply: the nature of power supply is discouraging, after a complete research, there is not enough power supply to compile the project work electronically and this led to the delay of this work.
- Finance: the cost of producing this project material almost brought this project work to an end.
iii. Lack of material from the case study: the process of getting information from the farmers in local areas was not encouraging; as the farmers find it difficult to release or explain the process involve in the storage, sales and accounts of their products
1.7 DEFINITION OF TERMS
Pastoralist: A way of life of peoples who do not live continually in the same place but move cyclically or periodically. It is distinguished from migration, which is noncyclical and involves a total change of habitat. Nomadism does not imply unrestricted and undirected wandering; rather, it is based on temporary centers whose stability depends on the availability of food supply and the technology for exploiting it. The term ̳nomad’encompasses three general types: nomadic hunters and gatherers, pastoral nomads, and tinker or trader nomads (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2011).
Transhumance: A form of pastoralism organized around the migration of livestock between mountain pastures in warm seasons and lower altitudes the rest of the year. The seasonal migration may also occur between lower and upper latitudes. Most peoples who practice transhumance also engage in some form of crop cultivation, and there is usually some kind of permanent settlement. Transhumance is practiced in those parts of the world where there are (Solomon, 2002)(Igwerson, 1996)mountains, highlands, or other areas that are too cold to be inhabited (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2011).
Web: The leading information retrieval service of the Internet (the worldwide computer network). The Web gives users access to a vast array of documents that are connected to each other by means of hypertext or hypermedia links—i.e., hyperlinks, electronic connections that link related pieces of information in order to allow a user easy access to them. Hypertext allows the user to select a word from text and thereby access other documents that contain additional information pertaining to that word; hypermedia documents feature links to images, sounds, animations, and movies (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2011).
Web application: A client/server application that uses the web browser as its client and performs an interactive service by connecting with servers over the Internet (Leon, 2003). Web portal:: A Web site or service that offers a broad array of resources and services, such as e-mail, forums, search engines, and online shopping malls, online services such as AOL, and Google (Webopedia , 2011)
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Full Project – Design and implementation of an eCommerce system for agricultural products ordering and delivery