Farmforce Smallholder Supply Chain Traceability Training Course

Course overview

Smallholder supply chains often fail traceability audits not because farmers are unwilling to comply, but because field data, buying records, quality results and delivery documents are captured inconsistently across dispersed collection points. Programme teams, agribusinesses, cooperatives and humanitarian market-development projects need a reliable way to connect farmer registration, plot information, inputs, harvests, purchasing and buyer deliveries. Farmforce provides that operational backbone, but its value depends on well-designed workflows, data governance and staff adoption—not simply on configuring forms.

This course equips participants to configure and operate Farmforce for end-to-end smallholder traceability. Participants work through producer and farm registration, GPS plot capture, crop and season setup, farmer-group structures, field-agent workflows, collection-centre purchasing, lot creation, quality and sustainability data, stock movements, and traceability reporting. They learn how to define data requirements, establish unique identifiers, map a product flow, set validation rules, manage offline mobile collection, investigate traceability gaps and produce buyer-ready records. The course also examines how Farmforce data can support certification, donor reporting, due diligence and supply-chain improvement decisions.

Instruction combines guided Farmforce demonstrations with scenario-based configuration labs built around a smallholder commodity supply chain. Participants configure sample master data, create mobile workflows, record field and buying transactions, trace a product lot through the system, and diagnose deliberately introduced data-quality issues. Each participant leaves with a Farmforce traceability implementation blueprint containing a process map, minimum data set, user-role matrix, reporting requirements, control points and phased rollout plan that can be adapted for their own organisation.

The programme is designed for professionals already involved in agricultural sourcing, producer-support programmes, field operations, certification, digital agriculture or supply-chain compliance. It is equally relevant to managers commissioning a Farmforce deployment who need to assess what operational change, data discipline and governance will be required for the platform to deliver credible traceability.

Course objectives

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Configure Farmforce producer, farm, crop, season and collection-point master data for a defined smallholder supply chain
• Design a minimum traceability data set linking farmer, plot, harvest, purchase, lot, stock and delivery records
• Build mobile field-data workflows with required fields, validation rules, GPS capture and offline-use controls
• Map product and information flows from farm registration through aggregation to buyer delivery using a traceability control-point matrix
• Create and reconcile purchase, lot, quality, inventory and delivery transactions within Farmforce workflows
• Generate traceability, sourcing, farmer-service and compliance reports for buyers, auditors and programme managers
• Diagnose duplicate identities, missing transactions, broken lot links and inconsistent master data using structured data-quality checks
• Produce a phased Farmforce implementation blueprint with roles, controls, training actions, migration tasks and performance measures

Benefits of attending

Target competencies

Who should attend

• Supply Chain Managers — who need defensible visibility from smallholder sourcing through aggregation and delivery
• Agribusiness Operations Managers — who oversee field teams, buying stations, warehouses and commodity movements
• Traceability and Compliance Officers — who must prepare evidence for buyers, certification schemes and due-diligence reviews
• Digital Agriculture Project Managers — who are responsible for selecting, deploying or improving Farmforce workflows
• Farmer Organisation Managers — who need consistent producer records, procurement controls and member-service data
• Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Specialists — who must turn farm and transaction data into credible programme evidence

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should have practical familiarity with smallholder agricultural supply chains, including farmer registration, crop seasons, aggregation or buying processes, and basic traceability concepts such as lots, batches and chain of custody. Experience using spreadsheets to review operational data is expected. Prior Farmforce use is helpful but not required; the course introduces the relevant platform functions from the user and implementation perspective. Participants do not need programming, database administration, GIS analysis or systems-integration experience. Those new to agricultural procurement should first gain exposure to a real commodity flow from farm gate to collection point or warehouse.

Training methodology

The five days alternate concise instructor-led demonstrations with guided Farmforce configuration labs. Participants use a realistic smallholder commodity case to register producers and plots, configure crop seasons and collection points, capture field and purchase records, create lots, record quality results and trace a delivery back to source farms. Small groups review a failed audit scenario, identify broken information links and propose corrective controls. Daily debriefs connect system settings to field-team responsibilities, while the final workshop converts each participant’s case into a practical implementation blueprint and rollout plan.

Course outline

Day 1: Traceability design and Farmforce foundations

• Smallholder traceability models: identity, product flow and chain-of-custody evidence
• Farmforce platform architecture, user roles and operational modules
• Commodity supply-chain mapping from producer registration to buyer delivery
• Traceability control points at farm, collection, warehouse and dispatch stages
• Unique producer, farm, plot, transaction and lot identification principles
• Minimum data-set design for commercial, sustainability and compliance requirements
• Master-data governance, ownership and change-control procedures

Workshop: Participants map a selected commodity flow and produce a traceability control-point matrix with required Farmforce records and responsible roles.

Day 2: Producer, farm and field-data configuration

• Farmforce producer profiles, household attributes and farmer-group structures
• Farm and plot registration with GPS coordinates and land-use information
• Crop, variety, season and production-cycle configuration
• Mobile form design for registration, farm visits and extension interactions
• Required fields, conditional logic and validation-rule design
• Offline mobile data collection, synchronisation and field-agent workflows
• Duplicate prevention, identity verification and master-data correction processes

Workshop: Participants configure a producer and plot registration workflow, including validation rules and an offline field-agent data-collection scenario.

Day 3: Purchasing, lots, quality and inventory traceability

• Collection-point setup and purchasing workflow configuration
• Recording deliveries, weights, prices, receipts and payment-relevant data
• Lot creation, aggregation logic and parent-child lot relationships
• Quality assessment records, grading decisions and rejection controls
• Stock movements between collection points, warehouses and processing locations
• Segregation rules for certified, conventional and identity-preserved commodities
• Transaction approvals, corrections and exception-handling audit trails

Workshop: Using sample purchase records, participants create lots, apply quality results, move stock and reconcile a collection-centre inventory position.

Day 4: Reporting, assurance and data-quality management

• Forward and backward traceability queries in Farmforce
• Farmforce reporting for sourcing volumes, farmer activity and transaction status
• Buyer, donor and certification evidence requirements
• GS1 EPCIS 2.0 concepts for event-based traceability data exchange
• Data-quality checks for completeness, consistency, timeliness and uniqueness
• Investigating broken lot links, missing purchases and unmatched stock balances
• Audit preparation packs, record retention and corrective-action tracking

Workshop: Participants investigate a simulated buyer traceability query, identify missing evidence and produce a corrective-action log and audit evidence pack.

Day 5: Implementation planning and operational adoption

• Farmforce implementation scoping by commodity, geography and operating model
• User-role matrices for field agents, buyers, warehouse staff, managers and administrators
• Data migration planning from spreadsheets, legacy registries and KoboToolbox forms
• Training, supervision and field-adoption plans for dispersed users
• Pilot design, acceptance criteria and phased rollout sequencing
• Performance indicators for traceability completeness, adoption and transaction timeliness
• Governance routines for support, data review, change requests and continuous improvement

Workshop: Participants complete and present a Farmforce implementation blueprint containing a phased rollout plan, role matrix, data controls and performance indicators.

Tools & standards covered

Farmforce, GS1 EPCIS 2.0, KoboToolbox, QGIS

A typical training day

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in the East Africa Time zone, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

How you can take this course

Certification

Participants who complete the full five days receive the Skillset Development Certificate of Completion, stating the course title, course code, dates and delivery format — suitable for professional-development records and employer reimbursement.

Frequently asked questions