Managing Inputs

The Rural Sourcing Management system has a feature called Input Supply which helps the Rural Sourcing Management administrator maintain information about inputs, assign input quotas, and approve input requests coming from mobile phone users in the field.

Farmers who participate in the Rural Sourcing Management system often need inputs such as seeds, fertilizers, insecticide, and personal protective equipment (PPE) in order to be successful farmers. Sometimes it may be necessary to assign quota assignments in order to regulate the amount of an input a farmer receives. On the mobile phone side, users can make requests for input quotas, manage the logistics and stocks of inputs, and distribute inputs to farmers.

All inputs that will be distributed to farmers must first be entered into the Rural Sourcing Management administrator system. The process of uploading and assigning input quotas is the responsibility of the system administrator and is done through the Web Interface. The distribution of the inputs is done through the mobile phone app by the field agent (Lead Farmer). The back end administration tasks are described in this guide and the distribution of inputs is described in the User Guide.

All inputs that will be distributed to farmers must first be entered into the Rural Sourcing Management administrator system. This can be done in one of two ways:

System Administrator assigns the Input Quotas
- Administrator can limit the amount of inputs for each farmer by setting a quota
- Administrator can assign input quotas for a single input for multiple farmers at one time by uploading an Excel spreadsheet
Inputs are requested on the mobile phone app and reviewed and approved in the Administrator system

See the appropriate topic for details.