• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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BusinessDay

Growsel partners Union Bank to provide agro credit for farmers

farmers

Growsel, Nigeria’s leading agricultural technology startup has partnered with Union Bank of Nigeria (UBN) to provide agro credit for smallholder farmers across the country.

According to Growsel, farmers across the country that would want to be beneficiaries of such loans should visit any Union Bank branches across the federation to open special savings accounts for direct labour funding.

Pointing out that Union Bank of Nigeria was strategically selected for the partnership due to its nation-wide spread across Nigeria and its availability in rural areas, Growsel said in a press statement made available to BusinessDay.

“Despite contributing about 30percent to Nigeria’s GDP and 70percent to the country’s labour force, most farmers in Nigeria are still entangle in poverty, a problem that basically stems from a lack of funds to access modern farm inputs, which in turn drastically reduces their output,” said Jerry Oche, founder of Zowasel.

“Growsel believes that this current reality in the Nigerian and indeed African agricultural spectrum is unacceptable. As such, it simply exists to bridge this gap by empowering and supporting smallholder farmers nationwide,” Oche said.

Presently, Growsel is crowd-financing smallholder farmers in Oyo, Lagos, Kaduna, Jos, Markudi and Kogi, and will be expanding to other cities in Nigeria as the organization continues with its screening and verification of local famers across Nigeria.

Apart from finance, Growsel also provides smallholder farmers with enhanced seeds and seedlings, fertilizers, tractors, pesticides, insurance and labour cost, to aid the cultivation of commercial crops, while at the same time creating a meeting point for farmers and investors, who are assured of 10 to 30 percent guaranteed return on their investment, since all farm projects are insured against risk.

In addition, farmers without Internet access across rural areas in Nigeria are also exposed to global best agricultural practices via SMS. Growsel.com is a subsidiary of Nigeria’s leading deals aggregator startup, Zowasel, which is part of the Street Toolz Group.

 

Josephine Okojie