TechPression

Tag: Farmers

  • WOFAN empowers 680,000 Nigerian farmers with training, technology and mechanised tools

    WOFAN empowers 680,000 Nigerian farmers with training, technology and mechanised tools

    The Women Farmers Advancement Network (WOFAN) on Saturday announced that it has empowered over 680,000 community partners across nine states in Nigeria within just two years. 

    Founded by Hajia Dr. Salamatu Garba in 1993, WOFAN has focused on transforming the lives of rural women and youth through innovative technology and sustainable agricultural practices.

    Read also: Safaricom partners with JICA, Lersha, Hibret Bank to empower 10,000 Ethiopian farmers

    Leveraging technology for agricultural growth

    WOFAN has embraced technology as a vital tool in enhancing agricultural productivity. The organisation recently onboarded 500 agricultural extension workers, equipping them with Android tablets loaded with data collection and analysis software. 

    This initiative aims to provide farmers with real-time technical advice based on research, helping them make informed decisions about crop production and processing. 

    Dr Garba emphasised the importance of accurate data: “The intended impact of this training is to build a strong relationship between the extension workers and the farmers.”

    In addition to training, WOFAN has distributed over 450 pieces of mechanised farming equipment, including treadle pumps and solar-powered sprayers, to farmers across ten states. 

    These tools are designed to reduce labour intensity and improve efficiency in farming operations. 

    Mr Attahiru Musa, a village head, shared his excitement: “This is the first time I’ve seen a solar sprayer compared to the manual ones we used before. The solar sprayer will save farmers time, stress, and money.”

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    Empowering communities through training

    WOFAN’s commitment extends beyond providing equipment and focuses on capacity building through comprehensive training programs. 

    Participants learn about Good Agronomy Practices (GAP), safe pesticide use, and practical farm management strategies. These training sessions enhance agricultural skills and foster community engagement among farmers.

    Dr Garba highlighted that these initiatives are part of a broader strategy funded by the Mastercard Foundation to empower 675,000 youths across Nigeria over five years. 

    The project aligns with the foundation’s Young Africa Works strategy, which seeks to enable millions of young people to secure dignified employment opportunities.

    As WOFAN continues its mission, integrating technology into agriculture remains a priority. By equipping farmers with knowledge and tools, WOFAN is paving the way for sustainable agricultural practices that uplift entire communities and improve livelihoods across Nigeria.

  • CBN, ANAACOP Unveil Agro eNaira Digital Currency, Target 5m Farmers

    CBN, ANAACOP Unveil Agro eNaira Digital Currency, Target 5m Farmers

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has inaugurated the “Agro eNaira Wallet Engagement” in partnership with the Association of Northern Agricultural and Allied Commodities Practitioners (ANAACOP).

    Five million farmers in northern states are to be enrolled in the programme throughout the dry and wet farming seasons of 2023 to 2024.

    The National President of ANAACOP, Alhaji Sadiq Umar Based user, disclosed this at the Agro eNnaira Wallet Launching in Yola, Adamawa State, over the weekend. 

    He highlighted that the initiative targets one million farmers in the northern states for the first year of the dry and wet seasons in 2023 and the remaining four million farmers for the seasons in 2024.

    Read also: The Central Bank Of Nigeria Unveils USSD Code For eNaira Transactions

    How Farmers Can Enrol For Loans Through Agro eNaira

    Farmers, according to Daware, would create eNaira wallet accounts with a sub-wallet account just for the programmed intervention and submit their information to be eligible for soft loans.

    According to him, 50 farmers from Adamawa’s Ribadu cluster were chosen to test the initiative before it was expanded to the other northern states.

    Daware went on to state that the scheme has chosen agro dealers, processors, and the Central Bank of Nigeria to devise a simplified mechanism of disbursing payments to farmers (CBN).

    He went on to clarify that the project will provide a platform for small-scale farmers to easily obtain loans using their eNaira wallets, emphasising that it would erase any obstacles they had previously encountered.

    Godwin Emefiele, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), complimented the ANAACOP for its efforts, calling it the first of its type to assist local farmers in purchasing farm equipment using their eNaira wallet.

    Emefiele said that the CBN’s brilliant concept of a digital currency, expressed by Hajiya Rakiya Mohammed, Director Information and Communication Technology (ICT) of the CBN, was the first in Africa and the second in the world.

    In his vote of gratitude on behalf of the awardees, Malam Mijinyawa Mahmud asked for additional support for farmers in order to achieve long-term food security and turn the country into a net exporter of raw materials.

    The CBN has stated that adopting the eNaira wallet will help to alleviate the country’s cash scarcity in the middle of the current crisis. Mr Samuel Giwa, the state’s acting CBN Branch Manager, stated that the policy was a CBN strategy aimed at reducing the usage of physical currency in transactions and encouraging the acceptance of digital payments.

    He was speaking at the Palace of the Deji of Akure and Oja Oba Market in Akure over the weekend, lecturing traders and citizens of the state on the need to use a cashless platform for transactions.

    Giwa went on to claim that the policy’s implementation in 2021 will increase financial inclusion, reduce corruption and money laundering, and improve the financial system’s effectiveness.

    The eNaira, he believes, is more than just a currency; it is a critical step towards creating a more stable and secure financial climate.

    “It was designed to make transactions easier, more efficient, and more secure,” stated the CBN Branch manager.

    The eNaira has undoubtedly become an important component of the Nigerian financial ecosystem, as well as an alternative conduit.

    It would benefit not only the Ondo State economy but Nigeria as a whole; it will be a symbol of development and innovation, paving the way for a more safe and efficient financial system.”

    The acting branch manager indicated that the CBN, a regulatory bank with a people-centred objective, was actively trying to solve the challenges currently associated with the currency reform strategy’s execution.

    Yet, in order to aid residents of Akure and Ondo State, he urged them to download the eNaira Quick Wallet in order to make payments for goods and services and have easy access to financial services.

    Mrs Mary Fasheitan, the CBN’s Special Assistant on Payment to the Governor, stated that the CBN organised the sensitization for people to understand all the benefits that the eNaira provides to the banking system while speaking to traders at Akure’s Oja Oba Market.

    Nigerian Public Figures Reactions to eNaira

    Speaking at the ceremony, Nollywood actor Gabriel Afolayan added that the platform would give Nigerian currency significance beyond only its physical form. He called it a better effort that would make it possible for people to move throughout Nigeria without feeling threatened.

    He urged Nigerians to adopt it and embrace it, calling it a step above simple transactions.

    The Deji of Akure, Oba Aladelusi Aladetoyinbo, praised the alternative forms of payment offered by the CBN in his remarks, but he urged the central bank and DMOs to put in place a dependable and effective infrastructure to make the policy popular with Nigerians and trouble-free.

  • Apollo, Kenya-based Agritech bags $40M to scale Farming across East and West Africa

    Apollo, Kenya-based Agritech bags $40M to scale Farming across East and West Africa

    The agriculture sector in Kenya contributes 26% to its gross domestic product, employs over 40% of its population, and accounts for 65% of its export earnings. This importance to the country’s economic livelihood makes the sector a key area of focus for innovators. This is owned by agritech startups like Apollo Agriculture, creating ripples in the region.

    The Kenya-based agritech startup plans to double the number of farmers it serves across the region and introduce other products that deliver more value per acre of land by the end of 2022. This spurt from raising $40 million Series B funding in the equity round led by Softbank Vision Fund 2.

    The startup is also scouting for growth opportunities in East and West Africa.

    “We are also developing products that deliver more value per acre. That could be new crops that enable customers to earn more money,” said Eli Pollak, co-founder, and CEO of Apollo Agriculture.

    This latest funding saw participation from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Yara Growth Ventures, Endeavor Catalyst, CDC, and existing investors, including Anthemis Exponential Ventures, Flourish Ventures, Leaps by Bayer, SBI, Breyer Capital, and TO Ventures Food.

    Apollo’s Origin

    Apollo Agriculture was founded in 2016 by Eli Pollak, Benjamin Njenga, and Earl St Sauver in Kenya to help farmers in emerging markets maximize their profits by using agronomic machine learning, remote sensing, and mobile phones to deliver a customised package of credit, high-quality farm inputs, and advice that can double farm yields. Apollo assesses farmer credit risk and customizes each package to a farmer’s specific location using satellite data, soil data, farmer behaviour data, and crop yield models.

    Read Also: Egypt’s Credit Fintech Lucky is Set to Increase Market Leadership with $25M funding

    Apollo started by working with maize farmers but helping them diversify to other high-yielding crops has been its area of focus.

    Apollo started off working with Maize Farmer

    “We began with maize. Maize is not perfect, but it has a profound advantage: nearly every farmer plants it across East Africa. This gives us a place to earn farmers’ trust and deliver value immediately. We believe that the pathway from subsistence farming to farming as a business means partnering with that farmer and using our machine learning models to identify the farmers with the best prospects of graduating to higher-profitability crops.” Pollak said.

    How Apollo Helping Farmers Double Their Output

    Before now, the agritech startup has received over $16 million in debt funding over the years for onward lending. Since it closed a $6 million Series A funding in 2020, Apollo claims it has grown 10 times, accelerated by-product financing.

    By the end of 2021, Apollo had worked with 100,000 farmers and had a network of “over a thousand” retailers and 5,000 agents spread across the country.

    The agents onboard farmers to the Apollo platform while retailers use the startup’s “checkout app” to handle point of sale, inventory, source wholesale orders, and access to trade credit.

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    Pollak and St Sauver had previously worked at The Climate Corporation in the U.S., where they helped farmers use data in making production decisions. With an urge to create a more significant impact, they launched Apollo to help farmers outside the U.S. double more than their output and shift from subsistence to commercial farming.

    One of its products includes insurance, which its partners offer, including Pula, the Kenya-based insurtech.

    “We have designed our business to strengthen farming systems, and if you think about climate change, we bundle insurance with every credit we sell to protect the borrower,” said Pollak.

    Alexia Yannopoulos, Investment Director at Softbank Investment, commented, “In the face of sustained macroeconomic and geopolitical volatility, feeding the world is one of society’s most important challenges. Apollo’s platform offers a one-stop-shop solution to help small-scale farmers improve crop and livestock outputs in emerging regions. Embedding valuable financial services like credit, insurance and advice into the supply chain are critical in supporting a more efficient and sustainable global food chain.”