Connecting with over 514,000 smallholder farmers in more than 2,900 communities in Africa, Agricultural technology company, ThriveAgric, has,on Tuesday, announced the production of over 1.5 million metric tonnes of grains in one year.
This was disclosed in the company’s 2022 Impact Report. In the year under review, the Nigeria-founded company scaled its operations into neighbouring Ghana, and Kenya in East Africa amongst other feats.
In the year under review, the Nigeria-founded company scaled its operations into neighbouring Ghana, and Kenya in East Africa amongst other feats.
The technology company invested over $100 million in financing the over 514,000 smallholder farmers in Africa and recorded 153.3 per cent year-on-year increase in the number of women impacted, with 80 per cent increase in youth impact in communities, the report revealed.
Reacting to the findings of the report, partnership lead at ThriveAgric, Samirah Bello, in a press statement, made available to LEADERSHIP, averred that the company was able to accomplish these groundbreaking milestones, due to the fact that it leveraged its proprietary technology and key partnerships with governments and global institutions including the Ghana Commodity Exchange (GCX), Promasidor (Kenya) Limited, VISA, and OCP Africa.
“At ThriveAgric, we remain committed as an impact-driven and customer-focused company. Through our strategic partnerships, we have been able to accelerate impact and reach meaningful milestones while tackling barriers confronting smallholder farmers in their day-to-day business. This report is an expansion of our 2017–2021 impact report, and we are proud to say that we have built a tech-driven agricultural enterprise that will eventually help feed both Africa, and the rest of the world,” Bello revealed.
Speaking on the social impact, CEO and co-founder of ThriveAgric, Uka Eje, said, in addition to the social benefits such as; reducing poverty and improving gender equality, smallholder farmers that work with ThriveAgric produce double the national average yields due to access to better quality seeds, fertilisers and equipment.
“At ThriveAgric, we will continue to adopt a multifaceted approach that includes collaboration between various stakeholders, increased investment, technology adoption, and sustainable agricultural practices. Our 2022 impact report is a testament that we are on the right track,” Eje stated.
Access to funding remains one of the biggest challenges confronting smallholder farmers in Africa.
According to the Africa Development Bank (AfDB), agri-SMEs in Africa are critically underfunded with an annual financing gap of approximately $100 billion.
ThriveAgric is bridging this gap by providing input financing, data-led advisory to improve output, enhancing supply chain efficiency, and encouraging sustainable agricultural practices with the aim of building a network of profitable smallholder farmers and contributing to a food secure Africa.
Leaning into its Theory of Change (highlighted in the impact report), ThriveAgric aims to provide $500 million in credit to 10 million smallholder farmers across Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya in 2027, and to double this outcome by 2050.
