DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF A WEB-BASED SYSTEM THAT WILL LINK

FARMERS TO BUYERS
Abstract

The introduction of agriculture technology in any country improves the annual production.

Agriculture is a complicated system, related to a wide range of environments, which is difficult

to deal with perfectly hence agriculture technology which improves farming by reducing the

amount of man power needed and increasing yield connecting farmers from any farming

community to buyers at any place can be very challenging for both parties (farmers and buyers).

Farmers after every farming season run at a loss due to lack of buyers of their farm products.

Also, poor prices offered by few buyers who have been transacting business with these farmers

affect them as well. Finally, the product gets spoiled when there is bumper harvest and they

cannot sell all at a goal. For instance tomatoes and garden produce easily get spoiled if not sold

at the right time. As a result, the essence of this project is to develop an online system that will

connect the farmers to the buyers of their farm products. The application, therefore, considers the

various challenges described above to help the farmer get the instant buyer of his or her product

in order to maximize profit. This Web-based agricultural support system (WASS) has been

proposed to support applicable agricultural activities, which combines web technologies and

agricultural systems. In this project, we analyzed the basic characters of the web-based

agricultural support system and then described the functionalities of the system. The test

methodologies that were adopted and used for this are the Waterfall and Agile methodology.

Waterfall development methodology was used because the overall architecture from the start to

the end boundaries of the app gives a waterfall feel. This is because all the processes involved

lead to each other systematically. However, since there are places where there are some

unknowns, this will then bring about the use of Agile Development Methodology to design those
components of the app. The software was implemented using C# for the logic and SQL server

for the backend.

List of abbreviations

GUI - Graphic User Interface

PHP - Hypertext Preprocessor

AJAX - Asynchronous JavaScript and XML

HTTP - Hypertext Transfer Protocol

ERD - Entity Relationship

EERD - Enhanced Entity Relationship Diagram

SQL - Structured Query language

JS - JavaScript

HTML - Hypertext Markup Language

CSS - Cascading Style Sheet

ERD - Entity Relationship Diagram

RAM - Random Access Memory

FR - Functional Requirement

NFR - Non-Functional Requirements

API - Application Programming Interface

UML - Unified Modelling Language

 CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background of study

Agriculture sector in Nigeria is considered a major contributor to economic growth and

development. This sector not only meets food demands of population but also provides raw

material for industry besides providing surplus for exports. Despite the face this sector has

witnessed many high points and low points in recent years, overall growth has remained

satisfactory This sector has a proven great potential to support the nation’s economy both now

and in the future if due consideration is given to solve rising issues. Reasonable agriculture

growth and improvement rely on how concerns various partners particularly farmers who are

facing several risks in farm production and marketing of their farm produce, are adequately

addressed. Regularly, farmers need to bear value reduction in their produce due to poor

infrastructure and post-harvest practices.

Moreover, frequent food surpluses and deficiencies have featured the need to modernize

marketing system framework so that goal situations can be handled marketing can be defined and

comprehended in various ways but commonly it is recognized as a place or areas where buyers

and sellers gather and interact for buying and selling goods and services. Many other scholars

has described marketing as an exchange process of goods and services accompanied by price

making mechanism. Agricultural markets play a central role of assembling rural agricultural

produce from scattered and vast production areas and distribute these commodities further to
consumers and other stakeholders in urban and peri-urban areas. Agricultural marketing most

times encompasses activities which may be picking/harvesting, drying, cleaning, sorting,

grading, processing, packaging, labeling: transporting: storage, promotion and sale of

agricultural products. All these major activities contribute in adding value to agricultural

products as these products flow from farm producers to consumers. While some of these major

activities are performed on farmers’ farm, the others are carried out off-farm by other market

intermediaries such as traders and agro-processors.

The business-to- consumer aspect of an online shopping is the most visible business use

of the World Wide Web. The primary goal of an online shopping site is to sell goods and

services online. This project deals with developing an e- commerce website for online shopping.

It provides the user with a catalogue of different goods and services available for purchase in the

store. In order to facilitate online purchase a shopping cart is provided to the user. The system is

implemented using a 3- tier approach, with a backend database, a middle tier of Microsoft

Internet Information Services (MIIS) or local server and PHP, and a web browser as the front

end client. In order to develop an e- commerce website for online shopping, a number of

Technologies must be studied and understood. This is a project with the objective to develop a

basic website where a consumer is provided with a shopping cart application and also to know

about the technologies used to develop such an application. This document will discuss each of

the underlying technologies to create and implement an e-commerce website for online

shopping.

An E-commerce is the trading in products or services using computer networks, such as

the Internet (Wikipedia, 2015). Electronic commerce draws on technologies such as mobile

commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online
transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), inventory management systems, and

automated data collection systems. Modern electronic commerce typically uses the World Wide

Web for at least one part of the transaction’s life cycle, although it may also use other

technologies such as e-mail. Every business that want to shoot online, irrespective of it types

need an e-commerce software product that fits your online store’s unique needs and

requirements. For the past years e-commerce has been the trend for most business spanning

across different cities and countries. Where product and service can be deliver through their web

service and delivery is done using different transport medium like ship, car or through post

office.

This work is an attempt at delivering an online shopping cart system capable of

delivering goods and services on demand, using a small Mobile outlet as a case study. E-

commerce is fast gaining ground as an accepted and used business paradigm. More and more

business houses are implementing web sites providing functionality for performing commercial

transactions over the web. It is reasonable to say that the process of shopping on the web is

becoming common place. The objective of this project is to develop a general purpose e-

commerce store where any product (such as books, CDs, computers, mobile phones, electronic

items, home appliances and any kind of goods) can be bought from the comfort of home through

the Internet. However, for implementation purposes, this paper will deal with an online book

store.

An online store is a virtual store on the Internet where customers can browse the

catalogue and select products of interest. The selected items may be collected in a shopping cart.

At checkout time, the items in the shopping cart will be presented as an order. At that time, more

information will be needed to complete the transaction. Usually, the customer will be asked to
fill or select a billing address, a shipping address, a shipping option, and payment information

such as credit card number. An e- mail notification is sent to the customer as soon as the order is

placed. Business conducted through the use of computers, telephones, fax machines, barcode

readers, credit cards, automated teller machines (ATM) or other electronic appliances (whether

or not using the internet) without the exchange of paper-based documents. It includes activities

such as procurement, order entry, transaction processing, payment, authentication and non-

repudiation, inventory control, order fulfilment, and customer support. When a buyer pays with a

bank card swiped through a magnetic-stripe-reader, he or she is participating in e-commerce.

With popular trends and demands the concept of the Internet as the way forward to

increase profit margins, companies new and old are creating websites here and there. The

significance for retailers to having a web site is that a web site is informational and transactional

in nature (Murphy, 1998). As the web site can be used for advertising, direct marketing, sales,

customer support and public relations. Significantly according to a study by McKinsey &

Company and Salomon Smith Barney, retailers who sell to their customers through catalogues;

stores, and online significantly emerge victorious amid the e-tail shake out (Pastore, 2000).

With seasonal events and holidays, the Internet has become a tool for a quick and stress

free method of shopping. Allowing retailers to cash in the profit from another useful shopping

channel. Jupiter Research expects 2003’s online holiday sales to be led by new shoppers,

resulting in a 21 percent increase over 2002 figures (Greenspan, R 2003). The growth in holiday

sales is driven by factors such as, online bargains; time saving; avoiding holiday crowds and

much more. The top categories of Online Sales according to comScore Networks are:

• Computer Hardware and Software

 • Apparel and Accessories

• Office Supplies

• Books, Music and Movies

• Consumer Electronics

• Home and Garden

• Health and Beauty

• Gifting

• Sporting Goods

• Toys and Games

• Autos

• Pets

Freedman argues that as more consumers are able to connect to faster Internet

connections categories such as Apparel may experience growth (Nancy May Kay Leung, 2003).

In the previous years, the buying, locating, and selling of poultry products were only done

manually or face to face, without the involvement of computerized devices in short. One must go

to (regardless of how far) a place where the products are sold to find the desired and then

purchase. Finding the right product wasn’t easy because one will have to go to different places to

find the cheapest product. But over time with the involvement of computers, locating auto

dealers with the desired as well as cheapest products became a lot easier, faster, and exciting.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

Agricultural farm products differ from industrial products due to their perishable nature

and special requirements during various harvesting process and transportation operations. There

is a need to design a farm product marking system to aid in displaying farm produce from
farmers across the country to meet major stakeholders in need of this farm products. This will

assist in growing the economy of the country when international investors invest in the farm

produce seen on the marketing system. Furthermore, agricultural marketing includes all business

activities designed to plan, price, promote and distribute want satisfying goods and services to

household consumers and industrial users.

This research work was undertaken to solve the various challenges encounter in

showcasing and delivering goods and services to different client around the globe. Where every

business transaction involve an on presence for transaction to be successfully executed. Most

shops are experienced some draw back in their operation due to the current shopping system

(manual shopping) which are:

 Lack of accuracy in customer’s record

 Slow in processing customer’s records

 Lack of proper accountability

 It does not give a customer the incredible convenience to shop at any time of the day due

to the limited working hours.

There is a need to change from manual way of shopping to a computerized way, where

customers can browse through the Internet and the system administrator to approve requests

shoppers can buy products anywhere and a database that will maintain the products detail

information.

1.3 Aim and Objectives

The main aim and object of this study is to Design and Implementation of Web-Based

system that will link farmers to buyers. The following are the objectives of the study.
 i. To design and implement a Farm Product Marketing system to aid farmers in rural areas

have a proper platform to promote their farm product.

ii. Enhance link between Farmers and end product users in urban areas

iii. Ease the distribution of farm products across the country through technology.

iv. Display goods and services in the store

v. Automate every sales effectively without mixing product prizes

vi. Store product detail using a secure database.

1.4 Significance of the Project

Agriculture is a well-organized and vibrate sector in Africa: it contributes significantly to

the growth of any economy. It also provides employment to over 1.5 million people. Recently

this sector has shown 8 to 10 percent growth rate per annum due to rising demand of various

agricultural products. It is observed that an agricultural commodity changes seven to eight

different hands before reaching ultimate consumers. Functions performed by various market

bodies (especially the middlemen in the market chain) remain one of the most controversial

issues in Africa’s agricultural economy. It is argued that middlemen exploit marginal farmers

and hamper their legitimate share which can be solved with the use of technology to link farmers

directly to buyers. Many people nowadays are using the web to shop for a wide variety of items,

the significance of online shopping system include the followings:

• Online Shopping and marketing System is incredible convenience.

• It is always easy when it comes to accessing of customers review

• The choice of Online Shopping is infinite for display of product.

• It price is always comparison

1.5 Scope of study

This research work scope is to develop a system capable of handling sales by automating in itself

a cart system that stores all sales details prior to when the user request close the sales service.

1. The system will also incorporate in its design a billing system that will display the total sales

and product at the close of each transaction.

2. The system will not incorporate in its development all the functions of a functional business

activities system but will focus only on the aforementioned functionalities. The system will not

be responsible for any loss of data if its environment (network/system installed on) is corrupt.

1.6 Project Risks Assessment

The Risk analysis cannot be exact. If they were exact, you’d be predicting the future. However,

analyzing a potential problem and how it will affect the project is much better than not at all.

Tables 1.1 and 1.2 shows the risks assessment of the project (identified risks and response to

tackle such risks) and the Risk Assessment Matrix.

Table 1.1: Risk and Assessment of Project

S/N IDENTIFIED RISKS RESPONSE

1 Lack of Project Recourses
2 Project Cost
3 Loss of work due to
application (IDE) failure,
loss, or force majeure.
4 Software development
platform availability
All necessary and required resources will be made
available before the commencement of the project or
before it is needed for use.
Project may overrun its budget, therefore room for
extra funding if the need arises will created.
Weekly data backup to at least 2 or more Hard drives.
Alternative API’s will be searched for and made
available. Software requirements will also be identified
 (Unavailability of API’s) in good time for possible contentious software.
5 Inability to carry out Be vigilant and observant of both hardware and
research due to software resources. Encrypt resource where possible
hardware/software damage. and necessary to prevent unauthorized access.
6 Project Delivery Every possible measure that can ensure the punctual
delivery of the software will be taken e.g., consistency
and not wasting time. Failure to deliver the software
will not occur unless inevitable.

Table 1.2: Risk Assessment Matrix

S/N Identified Risk Likelihood Difficulty Potentia Overall

of in time l Impact Risk to
Occurrenc Detection Project
e
1 Change of system requirement by Medium Medium High High
the client
2 Lack of project resources Low Low Medium Low

3 Project cost Medium Medium Medium Medium

4 Loss of work due to application Medium Medium High High

(IDE) failure, loss, or force majeure
5 Software development platform Medium Medium Medium High
availability (Unavailability of
API’s)
6 Inability to carry out research due Low Medium Medium Medium
to hardware/software damage.
7 Project Delivery Low Medium Low Low

SWOT ANALYSIS

This provides information that is useful in comparing the system capabilities, advantages, and

disadvantages with the environment in which it operates. It is an instrument in strategy

formulation and selection. SWOT analysis shows the categories of risk of this project as

Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats.

Strength:

i. The system should be user friendly to accommodate personnel with less computer

experiences.

ii. To enable the system to go worldwide.

iii. Bring a competitive environment for farmers to sell their produces at the actual

market values.

iv. To provide a robust and credible platform to ensure users satisfaction.

Weaknesses:

i. The System may not be able to accommodate large number of traffic due to future

expansion of users.

ii. Create more awareness to the farmers and the buyers who are illiterate.

Opportunities:

i. Will bring more customers for the sellers.

ii. Reduce Cost

iii. Save Time

iv. It will also help the buyers to have more options will buying the products.

Threats:

i. Prone to computer hackers because it is a web-based system.

ii. There are similar software that are available in the software market.

1.7 Limitations of the Study

Usually, every work has some limitations and this study is not exempted. The two major

limitations of this study are the high programming technique as well as financial constraints. The
high programming technique constraint in C# and MYSQL prevents the researcher to have an in

depth study and analysis on the subject matter. While the issue of financial constraint limits the

frequency of investigation to/from the institution toward gathering the necessary information

relevant for the study.

1.8 Definition of Terms

Farmers – a person who owns or manages a farm

Technology – the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in

industry

Link – a relationship between two things or situations, especially where one affects the other.

Investor- a person or organization that puts money into financial schemes, property: etc. with the

expectation of achieving a profit.

Exchange – an act of giving one thing and receiving another (especially of the same kind) in

return.

Market- a regular gathering of people for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and

other commodities. A regular gathering of people for the purchase and sale of provisions:

livestock, and other

Agriculture – a regular gathering of people for the purchase and sale of provisions: livestock, and

other commodities.

ONLINE: An online is a condition of connected to a network of computers of other devices. The

term is frequently used to describe someone who is currently connected to the internet.
INTERNET: this is a global connection of computer network co-operating with each other to

exchange data using common software standard protocols

DATA: These are raw fact that to proposed into meaningful information

MANUAL SYSTEM: Any system that does not involve the use of electronic computer.

COMPUTERIZED SYSTEM: This is process of operation of integrated with a computer system.

SHOPPING: Is the processing of browsing and purchasing items in exchange of money

USERS: An agent either human agent, (en 0 user) or software agent who uses a computer or

network services.

SECURITY: Its objective are to establish rules and measures to against attacks over the internet

SHOPPING CHART: A chart supplied by a shop, especially supermarket, to use by customers

inside the shop for transport of merchandise to the check- out counter during shopping

ACCESSIBILITY: A general term used to describe the degree to which a product, device, or

environment is accessible by as many people as possible.

DATABASE: A systematized collection of data that can be access immediately and manipulated

by a data processing system for a specific purpose

E-COMMERCE: Electronic commerce refers to the process of marketing, buying and selling of

product and services online.

ROBUSTINESS: The ability of a compute to cope with errors during execution or the ability of

an algorithm to continue to operate despite abnormalities in input calculation etc.

HTML CODE: – HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language. It is a type of computer

language that is primarily used for files that are posted on the internet and viewed by web

browsers. HTML files can also be sent via email.

Markup language: – A markup language is a combination of words and symbols which give

instructions on how a document should appear. For example, a tag may indicate that words are

written in italics or bold type.

Web browser: -A Web browser is a software program that interprets the coding language of the

World Wide Web in graphic form, displaying the translation rather than the coding. This allows

anyone to “browse the Web” by simple point and click navigation, bypassing the need to know

commands used in software languages.

File extension: – A file extension is the suffix at the end of a filename that tells a computer, and

the computer user, which program is needed to open the file. Also called a filename extension,

this suffix preceded by at least one period, is generally one to five characters long but the norm is

usually three characters in length.

Email: – Email, also sometimes written as e-mail, is simply the shortened form of electronic

mail, a protocol for receiving, sending, and storing electronic messages. Email has gained

popularity with the spread of the Internet. In many cases, email has become the preferred method

of communication.

TCP/IP: – This often used but little understood set of operations stands for Transmission Control

Protocol/Internet Protocol. TCP/IP is the combination of the two and describes the set of

protocols that allows hosts to connect to the Internet. In actuality, TCP/IP is a combination of
“more than those two protocols, but the TCP and IP parts of TCP/IP are the main ones and the

only ones to become part of the acronym that describes the operations involved.

TEXT FILE: – A text file is a computer file that stores a typed document as a series of

alphanumeric characters, usually without visual formatting information. The content may be a

personal note or list, a journal or newspaper article, a book, or any other text that can be rendered

accurately in typewritten form.

Hyper Link:-A hyperlink is a graphic or a piece of text in an Internet document that can connect

readers to another webpage, or another portion of a document. Web users will usually find at

least one hyperlink on every webpage. The simplest form of these is called embedded text or an

embedded link.

WWW: – acronym for World Wide Web.

 CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction

A detailed layout of the requirement plan were put in place to. This enabled the author to

develop interview questions for the farmers and buyers. The plan served as a guide compiling the

author to meet the agricultural analyst and supervisor. Both personalities were helpful in

ensuring a successful execution. Gathering of the requirements were uniquely identified and

understood. This created an excellent path for the successful progress of the project to be

executed. The author took a step to gather the requirements from individuals to enable the

development of the application. Farmers and buyers were interviewed. Agricultural analysts

were involved in various discussion to understand and gather good requirements for the project.

Table 2.1: Requirement design Overview

S/N Resource Information Method

1 Farmers What will it require farmers to connect directly Open-ended
with the buyers of the farm product? interviews

2 Processors How will they be linked to farmers for the farm Interviews
product desired by them?

3 Market How will they be linked to farmers for the farm Open–ended
 women product desired by them? What features do the interviews
market women need to easy their usage? What
quantity of produce do they need from the
farmers?
4 Food How will they have access to the farmers and Interviews
Distributors the farm product needed for their companies?

5 Agricultural Is there a way the analyst can help in the Open discussions
analyst connection of the consumer (Buyers) to the
producers (Farmers) as well as the Developers?
6 Supervisor What guidelines can you give to the students to Scheduled meetings,
execute the project successfully. research and
discussions as well as
advice to the student.
2.2 Interview

From the requirement plan stated above, interviews were taken on five farmers and five

buyers. Five farmers from Berekuso in the Eastern Region of Ghana were interviewed on how

they get buyers to buy their products after every farming season. They were also interviewed on

the price they are willing to sell, the quantity of production, the quality of their product, the

location of the farm as well the mode of money transaction they were familiar with. The

interviews were also to find out what they expect from buyers. At the end of the interviews, the

report indicated that farmers would prefer buyers who buy their product at the good price and are

always available at the right time when the goods are ready. The report indicates that the farmers

would prefer direct link or connection between them and that of the buyers in order for them to

be able to produce large quantity of farm produce desired by the buyers. They also preferred

proximity buyers. That is the buyers who are near to them so that they would not have to travel

all round looking for buyers of their farm products.

On the other hand, the buyers’ interviewed were five markets women in Oshodi market in

Lagos state, Nigeria to know what exactly they are looking for from farmers in order to buy their

products. Based on that, most buyers indicated that they prefer quality, good price and desired
quantity of products the farmers can offer them at the end of the farming seasons. They also

expressed interest in the proximity of the farmers as this may cut down the cost in travelling to

buy farm products.

2.3 Application Overview

The Software is available to help connect farmers to buyers. The application is expected

to link a specific farmer to the specific buyer of his or her farm product. For instance, when a

pineapple farmer signup and upload his/her product on the platform, it should link him to

pineapple buyers on the platform. The figure below indicates the entry, systems and how they

interact together.

Figure 2.1: Interaction among farmer, buyer and middleman (contex-diagram)

2.4 Application Feature

The Software allows the farmers and buyers to create their own accounts and use it at any

time. Upon account creations the users can view, search and order for product or send message to
the desired customers on the platform. If the buyers make order SMS is sent to the farmer about

his product been ordered. The Software provides both mobile and web usage. This enable the

users of the platform to have access to it at any point in time.

2.5 User Classes and Characteristics

The principal users of the Software system are farmers and buyers. Farmers perform

diverse tasks including signing up for the first time, uploading or inserting their farm produce,

viewing the buyers on the system, sending a message to the buyers and updating their products’

information. They can search for buyers on the platform as well as search for the average prices

of product in order to price their own product well. Buyers as the second major users of the

systems sign up, view farmers, place an order and negotiate with the farmer on the platform.

Buyers can search for farmers by location or product name. They can search for average prices

of various products on the platform based on regional markets. For instance, a buyer can enter a

product named cassava and region say Rivers state. The average market prices of the cassava

product would be displayed for all the markets in Lagos state.

2.6 Operating Environment

The Software works on both mobile and web application. The web application which is

developed now can be converted to the mobile application. The mobile version is a hybrid

application hence it works on IOS, Android, and Windows. It has multiple browsers support

which include Google Chrome and Firefox. The web application uses PHP, JS, HTML and CSS.

Both mobile and web platforms enables the easy usage of the Software by the users (Farmers and

Buyers).

2.7 Functional Requirement

 In this system various use case diagrams are used to practically display the functional

requirements.

2.7.1 First User-Type: Farmers

The use case diagram below indicates the farmer and all the major tasks the farmer can

perform to meet his or her needs on the platform.

Figure 2.2: Farmers’ use case diagram

The following are the principal requirements for the farmer:

i. Product insertion: The farmer can insert product upon successful login if registered as a

user.
 ii. The farmer can view various buyers in the system aside those who are interested in his

products.

iii. A farmer upon successfully sign up or login should be able to view the buyers in the

system.

iv. The farmer should be able to send message (SMS or email) to buyers upon successful

inserting and sign up in the system

v. The farmer should be able to make update (new product) on the platform

vi. The farmer should be able to search for buyers outside his or her category

vii. The farmer should be able to search for average market prices of the product by

entering the product name and the region.

2.7.2 Second User-Type: Buyers

The use case diagram below indicates the buyer and all the major tasks the buyer can

perform to meet his or her needs on the platform

Figure 2.3: Buyers’ case diagram for buyers

The main functional requirement for the buyer are as follows:

i. Sign up with his or her relevant details on the platform

ii. The buyer should be able to view various farmers in the system aside those he or she is

interested in their products after successfully sign up or login

iii. The buyer should be able to send message to farmers upon showing interest in the

farmer’s product

iv. The buyer should be able to search for farmers on the platform.

v. The buyer should be able to place order on the product he or she is interested in.
 vi. Buyers should be able to search or view prices of products across markets in any region

within the country.

2.8 Non-Functional Requirement

2.8.1 Product Requirements

This subsection of the non-functional requirements gives the users of the platform an

understanding of the Software application. It comprises of security, reliability and safety and

performance of the application.

2.8.1.1 Security

The system must keep farmers and buyers details as secured as possible. Information

retrieved from the buyers and farmers should only be used for the purpose of a business

transaction on the platform and kept confidentially. Also, the Software must operate based on an

identification requirement systems to confirm the legitimacy of the farmer and the buyer.

2.8.1.2 Dependability

The Software system should send notification to each farmer once a buyer of that

particular farmer’s product signed up and showed interest in it. The buyer too should be notified

once a farmer has uploaded a product related to his or her choice. The system must be available

for the users to use it at any time. A component inefficiency should not cause other component to

fail.

2.8.1.3 Safety and Performance

The performance of the system determines it usability by the various users. Therefore the

application has to be tested to ensure that the errors arising during the usage are kept under
control. Following the performance of the system it must also be secured enough for the users’

information to be kept secured without any issues.

2.8.2 Organizational Requirements

2.8.2.1 Operational Requirement

The system does not allow restrictions on the uses of any platform. Though mobile and

web, it can be accessed by the users of the application.

2.8.2.2 Ethical Requirement

The Software has a well-built database system that stores information about the farmers

and buyers. This data is stored and secured every time the users use the platform. With regards to

this, every farmer or buyer information and data are kept secured and confidential.

2.8.2.3 Product Regulatory Requirement

The Software system allows multiple users at a goal. As such the system must provide

users permission. The permission gives some users privilege to change the information. This

system has login permission for constant regulatory. The Software platform includes the ability

of the system to handle bad users’ inputs and data as well as maintain the system when there is

the need.

2.9 Related Work

a) Afrimash
 Afrimash is Nigeria’s leading online marketplace for agricultural items. User can now

conveniently and securely shop online for quality items and receive the order safely at their

location. Its mission is to make agriculture convenient for users by connecting them to quality

inputs quickly, conveniently, and safely. The Afrimash Farm UI of the Application can be seen

in Figure 2.4.

Figure 2.4: Afrimash Farm Application

Drawbacks:

i. Afrimash holds no liability resulting from an adjustment of the offer or refusal to accept

the products by participating dealer(s).

ii. If the transaction should go sideways, Afrimash will not be held responsible for anything.

iii. The prices experience of the products changes weekly.

iv. It has a fixed number of products.

v. The application has too many information which makes it jam-packed.

b) ORDER 4 BIRDS
 Order 4 birds also Nigeria's online platform for Poultry Supplies. Figure 2.5 consists of

the Order 4 Birds Farm Application UI. Order4Birds Main Features:

i. It has as hot deal for products, where they sell the products at a cheap price.

ii. User can chat with order4birds agent real-time.

Figure 2.5: Order4Birds Farm Application

PROS

i. It has a user-friendly interface.

ii. User can communicate with an agent in Realtime.

CONS

i. They don’t say much about their company.

ii. Online chatting system fails sometimes.

c) DELE FRESH FARMS

 Delefresh farms is a Nigerian Agricultural company that produces and sells agricultural

products and is in Epe, Lagos, Nigeria. The Dele Fresh Farm UI of the Application can be seen

in Figure 2.6.

Figure 2.6: Dele Fresh Farm Application

Drawbacks:

i. The source codes are visible for users to see.

ii. How to add items to cart is not clear on the poultry farm page.

iii. The products displayed don’t say much and you can’t add them to cart as there is no add

the cart button on the poultry farm page.

iv. Adding items to cart in home page directly navigates you to cart page which does not

allow the user to add more items to cart.

v. There are no clear navigation tabs, and a user must scroll down the page to find features

to click on. This can make it a bit tricky for car shoppers to navigate through.

vi. No detailed product description when searching for a product.

d) POUL TECH
 Henan Poul tech machinery co., ltd. Are the modern poultry farm fully automation

solution supplier from China. Figure 2.7 consists of the Poul Tech Farm Application UI.

Figure 2.7: Poul Tech Farm Application

PROS

i. It has a user-friendly interface.

ii. User can communicate with an agent in Real time.

CONS

i. It requires the user to put in personal details before deals are shown, retail price

incentives or, in this case, before the users are emailed a price report and certificate.

This can discourage buyers from exploring the application because in some cases, the

user might just be window shopping.

ii. Online chatting system fails sometimes.

2.4 Summary
 This chapter has provided an overview of online farming, its predecessor, its attendant

shortcomings, benefits of the online Farming systems and critical aspect of its design. The

literature reviewed in this chapter shows that the use of software using Java and on android

Operating System is a more common design compared to other designs. There are so many

existing software with unique features too but still flawed in some ways. Although most

consumer always want to buy products from websites that is designed in their favor, however, it

still doesn’t change the fact that the consumers still go for window shopping on those same sites.

Android applications are now the most developed applications. This is because currently, android

has almost 80% of the smartphone market, thus android applications are the most used and

popular applications around the world. Other Java based software android applications exist, but

so far there hasn’t been one that found a way to satisfy both the customers and the seller in terms

of theft prevention and other inconvenience, which is why this research will be based on

customer and retailer satisfaction.

Therefore, developing the software as a web application will be the best approach for

now in terms of easy access and extra functionalities and using C# as it is the best programming

language for this project’s development.

CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY