Web Based Agric-Business Information System:- Agburum Henry C

ABSTRACT xii This project presents the design and implementation of a Web-Based Agric-Business Information System, developed to bridge the information and communication gap between farmers, buyers, and agro-dealers in Nigeria. The current agricultural marketing process in many rural and semi-urban areas is plagued by inefficiencies such as lack oftimely market information, limited visibility of produce, and inadequate communication channels between stakeholders. To address these issues, a responsive and user-friendly web application—FarmSquare—was developed to facilitate real-time product listing, inventory tracking, transaction management, and direct communication among users. The research methodology adopted for this study is a combination of descriptive research design and software development methodology The system was developed using HTML5, CSS, Bootstrap, PHP, and MySQL as the backend database. The development process followed the structured system analysis and design methodology, including detailed requirement gathering through structured interviews and questionnaires with target users. The system architecture was modeled using UML diagrams, and data flow diagrams were created to show user and system interactions. Key modules implemented include user registration and login, product upload and listing, buyer-seller messaging, transaction logging, inventory reports, and administrative controls for publishing agricultural news. Upon deployment and testing in a simulated environment, the system successfully allowed farmers to list products with relevant details, buyers to filter and search for desired items, and agro-dealers to manage input inventories. System evaluation using black-box testing confirmed that all functional requirements were met. Feedback from users during evaluation highlighted the ease of use, improved accessibility to market data, and the system's ability to reduce reliance on middlemen as major benefits. The findings of this project demonstrate that a digital platform like FarmSquare can significantly improve the marketing and distribution of agricultural products. It enhances visibility, enables informed decision-making, and fosters transparency and direct engagement in the agric-business value chain. This system holds the potential to support sustainable agricultural development and rural economic empowerment when scaled and adopted in real-world scenarios.