Level 7
Logistics
Move products reliably and in good condition
A good product can still be lost on the road. Logistics is everything involved in getting it from where it is made to where it is sold: packing it for the trip, choosing how to move it, agreeing when and where, and paying for it fairly. This level shows you how to do that with care and low cost.
Farmers, processors, traders, cooperative members and young people who want to move food or run a transport or collection service.
How this level is written
The lessons are practical teaching suggestions written by AfricAgric. The reading list is background reading, not the source of every sentence. Examples with numbers are invented and say so. Use the level as a way to think, then check facts and rules for your own place.
What you will learn
- Describe the whole journey of your product, from pick-up to the buyer's hands.
- Choose a way of moving the product that suits its load, distance and sensitivity.
- Pack and load so the product arrives in good condition.
- Plan pick-up and delivery times with buyers and look for ways to share loads.
- Work out the true cost of a trip, including empty return journeys and losses.
Where this level fits
Levels 4 to 6 helped you make, pack and store a product. This level is about moving it. The AfricAgric opportunity page 'Agricultural logistics and route coordination' looks at logistics as a business idea in its own right.
Parts of this level
- Part 1What logistics includesMoving, handling, timing and information: the journey between maker and buyer.
- Part 2Handling and loadingMost damage on the road is caused by packing, loading and waiting, not by distance.
- Part 3Routes, timing and coordinationAgree times and places with buyers, and look for ways to combine and share journeys.
- Part 4The cost of a trip, and who paysCount every cost of a journey, including empty returns, and agree who bears losses.
- WorkbookAll exercises from this level in one place, with space to think and a printable layout.
- QuizCheck what you learned. Answers and short explanations are hidden until you choose to show them.
Related
Not advice
This level is educational. It is not legal, financial, regulatory, nutritional or medical advice. Rules, fees and programmes change, so check every requirement with the authority named before you act.
Background reading
- Small-Scale Postharvest Handling Practices: A Manual for Horticultural Crops (4th edition) — L. Kitinoja and A. A. Kader, University of California, Davis (hosted by FAO)
- Developing Sustainable Food Value Chains: Guiding Principles — Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2014