A cooperative marketplace connecting dairy producers in Deir ez-Zor directly with local buyers — cutting out intermediaries and formalizing what they already do.
Al Tabni, a village west of the river, is home to twenty women who already run a dairy cooperative out of their homes. They have products, buyers, and a coordination system. What they need is a marketplace.
Based on the Focus Group Discussion conducted on 2 April 2026 with women dairy breeders in Al Tabni, Deir ez-Zor.
Products are sold entirely through personal networks — neighbors, relatives, and local traders.
Intermediaries dictate the price of fresh milk, leaving women with little bargaining power.
Order coordination happens through a WhatsApp group — informal, fragile, and untracked.
Basic record-keeping exists, but no digital financial tracking — a laptop would help significantly.
A two-sided web marketplace that formalizes existing workflows, removes intermediaries, and gives women control over pricing, orders, and income.
Women already have products, buyers, and a coordination system. Haleeb doesn't replace what works — it upgrades it. Sellers list products and set their own prices. Buyers browse and order directly. Orders are tracked, payments are logged, and the cooperative manages everything through one platform.
Every feature is traced directly to evidence from the FGD report.
Women post dairy products with photos, descriptions, prices, and available quantity — updated manually after each production batch.
"Limited marketing capacity and access to broader markets" — main challenge identified.
Local buyers in Deir ez-Zor browse available products and place orders directly, bypassing the intermediary layer entirely.
Sales currently limited to neighbors and local retailers — no discoverability beyond personal connections.
Women set their own prices per product and per season. No intermediary can override or dictate pricing on the platform.
"Fresh milk prices are typically dictated by intermediaries (traders)."
Orders flow through a 3-state system: New → Confirmed → Delivered. One-tap confirmation via WhatsApp-triggered link. No laptop required.
All breeders own smartphones. WhatsApp group already used to coordinate orders with a designated manager.
Sellers set a separate price for bulk/retailer buyers vs. individual customers — formalizing the pricing they already apply informally.
"Products are priced based on quality, product type, customer segment, and market demand."
Recurring retailers and buyers get a verified profile. Trust-based relationships are documented and persistent on the platform.
"Payment methods depend largely on trust with customers" — cash and installments with known buyers.
A retailer can schedule a recurring weekly order (e.g., 5 kg cheese every Monday), reducing back-and-forth coordination overhead.
Orders currently received from Ar-Raqqa "via relatives" on a recurring demand basis.
Auto-generated invoice per B2B transaction. Simple, downloadable, and printable for retailer record-keeping.
"Access to a laptop would improve financial management and record-keeping" — formal records needed.
Seller and buyer agree on a delivery date and time per order. Simple calendar picker — no logistics provider integration needed at this stage.
"Clear need to strengthen marketing systems, sales and distribution mechanisms."
Manual qty update per product after each batch. Stock auto-decrements on each order. Low stock flag alerts the seller.
"Storage constraints, especially for products requiring accumulation over several days."
Log cash payments, installment schedules, and Sham Cash transactions per order. Outstanding balances tracked automatically.
"Full cash or installment-based payments. One participant mentioned prior experience using Sham Cash."
Revenue history, order summaries, and payment status in one view — designed for the group's designated financial focal point.
Group has a "financial/accounting focal point" role already defined within their structure.
New order notifications are pushed to the seller's WhatsApp — matching existing behavior. A tap-through link opens the order for one-tap confirmation.
"Mobile phones actively used for communication and sales… WhatsApp group to coordinate orders."
Short practical guides and resources on marketing, sales, product diversification, and digital payments — accessible on mobile.
"Strong demand for training in marketing and sales, product diversification, and digital payment tools."
Oxfam and cooperative admins upload and manage training content, track completion, and add new modules as the program evolves.
"Expressed strong interest in continuing experiential learning. Prefer practical, hands-on approaches."
Conceptual wireframes showing the three most critical screens for the seller experience.
Starting with what's most urgent, validated by the FGD findings.