Across sub-Saharan Africa, one of the major challenges farmers face is post-harvest losses due to inadequate infrastructure like storage facilities. In addition, many farmers do not have adequate capital to do commercial farming.
Alloysius Attah and Emmanuel Owusu Addai are too familiar with these challenges among Ghanaian farmers and Africa as a whole. This led them to start Farmerline in 2013, an agtech startup that provides technologies designed to increase farmers’ access to high-quality production inputs and education on the best farming practices, according to TechCrunch.
The startup works with small retail shops or agribusinesses to ensure farmers get access to high-quality supplies. It also uses these shop owners as the first point of knowledge for the farmers, and thanks to these retail shops, Farmerline is able to share educational materials and also bring together farmers for training.
What’s more, the small retail shop owners use Farmerline’s artificial intelligence platform Mergdata to digitize the farmers they serve and also predict their needs. Through Mergdata, the startup is also able to tell the performances of the retail shops it works and develop a credit scoring program that guides the extension of business expansion loans, the founders told TechCrunch.
“We are tapping into that network of agribusiness, and in a way, we are tapping into a network of trust — the relationship that these shop owners have with farmers to help us expand,” said Attah.
The startup has increased its direct reach to 79,000 farmers from 8,000 in 2019. Attah and Addai will expand their operation to cover more Ghanaian farmers and even expand to the neighboring Ivory Coast, thanks to a $12.9 million pre-Series A funding.
The funding round was led by Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund (ARAF) and FMO, the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank, with participation from Greater Impact Foundation, according to TechCrunch. Debt lenders included DEG, Rabobank, Ceniarth, Rippleworks, Mulago Foundation, Whole Planet Foundation, the Netri Foundation and Kiva.
Attah and Addai also plan to use the money to build infrastructure like warehouses and distribution networks so as to facilitate the distribution of farm inputs like fertilizers and seeds to rural areas.
“We think of ourselves as the Amazon of farmers… a digital and physical infrastructure powering a marketplace that allows the movement of goods and services to and from rural areas,” said Attah.
“We plan to use the funding to strengthen our infrastructure, that is warehouses and distribution channels. Having a network of partners that can help us quickly move inputs like fertilizer and seeds to rural areas, and farm produce from rural areas, is important and part of what we do. We don’t intend to bring all of the logistics and storage in-house, but we want to be more efficient and that means working with the right partners,” he said.
Atedo Peterside is a Nigerian entrepreneur, businessman, banker and founder of one of Africa’s most…
The cheerleading squad of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University has won the National…
Former Albany football standout Amitral "AJ" Simon, aged 25, has passed away abruptly, just days…
Ashanti has confirmed she is pregnant with Nelly. But, that is not the only good…
During a recent appearance on SiriusXM’s Jim & Sam show, actor Giancarlo Esposito revealed that…
It appears Damian Lillard's ex-wife Kay'La caught wind of GloRilla shooting her shot at the…
Authorities in Los Angeles are investigating Kanye West for battery after he punched a man…
Disturbing footage from Rio de Janeiro has revealed a bizarre occasion where a Brazilian woman…
Beyoncé’s latest album is influencing almost every facet of the economy. Levi’s stock rose 20%…
Wahu Mobility, a producer of electric bikes, recently unveiled its first EV assembly plant in…
Naya Ellis' revolutionary idea is garnering headlines. Inspired by her family's experiences, Ellis, who is…
Deryl McKissack is the President and CEO of McKissack & McKissack, a Washington, D.C.-based construction…
It may come across as daring and perhaps unconventional, but, that was the approach an…
Amira Rasool is the founder of The Folklore Group, a business-to-business platform that connects retailers with brands…
The Songwriters Hall of Fame is going to present Solána Imani Rowe, better known by…