The objective of the startup from Maranhão is to give visibility to the Brazilian family farmer, ensuring access to new technologies and promoting inclusive economic growth
Culte – a complete ecosystem supporting Brazilian family agribusiness – officially launches cultecoin (CULTE) go to the website, BEP-20 utility token, based on Binance Smart Chain and will be launched on the decentralized exchange (DEX) PancakeSwap.
At first, cultecoin’s role will be to intermediate negotiations within the Culte marketplace, facilitating payment for fees, products and services, in addition to the possibility of being used as a liquidity reserve for small farmers. In the future, the founders hope that the cultecoin blockchain will be able to trace the origin of products from producer to end consumer and that crypto will be used as the currency of the company’s platform.
“Our objective is to promote inclusive, sustainable and intermediary-free economic growth, give visibility to the small family farmer and bring access to new technologies and training in the field,” explains Cláudio Rugeri, CEO of Culte. According to him, the platform was developed using Blockchain technology thinking about the disintermediation of the production chain and the concept of finance, through a controlled, visible and open structure to all involved. “Cult’s marketplace is characterized as decentralized, directly connecting producers and customers, without the need to involve third parties,” details the executive.
Although cryptocurrencies are gaining more and more fans in Brazil and around the world, the CEO reveals that he had no idea how the project would be received in the agribusiness and family farming environment. “Cultecoin ended up serving as a gateway to the cryptocurrency market for many people who were far from this universe,” he says. Based on an informal estimate, for 70% of investors, Cultecoin has become the first crypto asset in their portfolios. For some, it is still the only one.
In the last 12 months, the startup received more than R$ 15 million in loan requests, with 70% of the farmers who applied never having access to credit. Today, the startup is present in 20 Brazilian states, bringing together more than two thousand small farmers; of these, more than 30% are women.
The figures on Brazilian family agribusiness reflect both the support needs of the sector and the opportunities that reside in it. Agribusiness is responsible for 21.1% of Brazil’s GDP (Gross Domestic Product), which means that more than a fifth of everything generated in Brazil comes from agriculture. And, of this total, about 25% comes from family farming, that is, 5% of Brazilian GDP comes from the properties of small rural entrepreneurs.
These figures were released by the National Secretary for Family Agriculture and Cooperatives, Fernando Schwanke, in an interview with Expoagro 2020 Magazine (on page 11). According to him, Brazil has 4.1 million small producers, with 84% of all rural properties in the country belonging to small farmers.
Cultecoin allows the advance purchase of the production of these small farmers, contributing to the growth of family farming. “The idea is to enable the connection between the producer and companies that need the goods—such as agro-industries, cooperatives, hospitals, hotels, restaurants and other establishments that need large volumes—for a larger purchase,” explains the executive.
On the other hand, farmers can also make purchases together, obtaining better conditions from suppliers. “We, at Culte, believe that we all enjoy the fruits of agribusiness, so we have a duty to support farmers and rural producers,” concludes the CEO.
“We need to boost Brazilian family agribusiness. The traditional banking system is not capable of providing subsidized financial and technological resources in a comprehensive manner and in the appropriate period,” says Rugeri. “The persistent increase in food demand, caused by population growth, and the change in diet as the global middle class expands, creates attractive market niches in agribusiness, offering investment opportunities in technology and infrastructure,” he adds.
