Location/Region: Malawi/Lilongwe 🇲🇼
Industry: Agriculture
Apps implemented: Accounting, Sales, Purchases, Inventory
Software Replaced: Quickbooks, Tracking tools
Company size: <50
Hosting type: Odoo online
Acades Malawi is a dynamic agribusiness enterprise dedicated to empowering over 10,000 young smallholder farmers across Malawi. Creating sustainable livelihoods by connecting farmers to ethical and reliable markets is their main mission. They ensure that farmers earn a fair value for their produce while promoting socially responsible trade practices. Operating nationwide with HQ in Lilongwe district, Arcades Malawi process and distribute high-quality agricultural products to both local and regional markets.
As their network of farmers grew and demand increased, so did the complexity of managing operations. It became clear that to continue making a meaningful impact, ACADES needed a more efficient, scalable system.
The pests of the previous systems
Before Odoo, aggregators working with farmers recorded purchases manually on forms. These forms were then re-entered at headquarters, a tedious, error-prone process that led to double entries and inefficiencies. Sales teams couldn’t monitor the progress of bulk rice or soybean orders, and procurement struggled to reconcile payments with the actual stock received. Odoo changed that.
"The company was failing to track the movement of commodities along the supply chain from the farmer to the market."
The gap between departments was deep, sales, purchases, and accounting were disjointed, and employees focused more on the admin work rather than the operations themselves.
Planting a better foundation
With the Sales app, Acades now manages B2B contracts and monitors customer orders at every stage from request to fulfillment. The team knows exactly when a buyer places a bulk order and can ensure timely deliveries with complete traceability.
The Purchases app streamlined procurement from farmers. Aggregators' transactions are now synced directly with the system, making it easy to match payments with incoming stock. This has reduced discrepancies and tightened internal controls.
"We plan to expand our use of Odoo to cover daily business operations, moving beyond its previous role”
And the Inventory app brought much-needed visibility. Acades operates several warehouses across Malawi. Odoo allows them to monitor stock by location, not just for food safety and batch tracking, but also to understand regional demand and strategically plan procurement. This data is essential to fulfilling their mission: sourcing more produce from smallholder farmers and changing more lives.
Healthy systems = Healthy Harvest
With Odoo, stock movement is easier to track, transaction records are safely stored, and lengthy paperwork has been annihilated. Departments such as procurement, warehouse management, and accounts are so connected that operational efficiency has increased by 30%.
"Processes are faster, more efficient, and sophisticated."
An hour of work was turning into half. Generating reports and decision-making was happening faster than ever. A simple integration between CRM and sales streamlined lead tracking and customer follow-ups. Odoo is now contributing to a 20% increase in their sales.
Purpose rooted in Odoo
With Odoo’s chatter and integrated apps, Acades has noticed a more collaborative nature in their employees. Now with an intuitive interface, Acades has seen more real-time data, can monitor KPIs clearly and strategically plan for what's next.
"We were also pleasantly surprised by the ease of user adoption, especially in departments that previously relied heavily on manual processes."
A company like Acades, which is reimagining agriculture for youth and changing the lives of farmers, deserves a platform that is worthy of their cause.
