• Thursday, March 28, 2024
businessday logo

BusinessDay

SmartFarm Nigeria, Psaltry International collaborate to train cassava farmers, create market access

SmartFarm Nigeria, Psaltry International collaborate to train cassava farmers, create market access

In a bid to boost cassava production in the country, SmartFarm Nigeria – an agritech company has collaborated with Psaltry International Limited to train cassava farmers on good agronomy practices and postharvest losses.

The aim of the partnership is for the cultivation of about 5, 000 acres of cassava for Psaltry International newly installed cassava processing plant.

Also, the partnership is targeted at training over 1,000 smallholder farmers and connecting them with the market for their produce, thereby impacting their livelihood positively.

“We are excited to partner with SmartFarm Nigeria to provide technology-driven farm-practices that will help farmers increase productivity,” Yemisi Iranloye, CEO, Psaltry International Limited said during the signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Association (MoU).

Read also: Prospects, challenges of Nigerias agriculture in 2020

“This partnership will improve the livelihood of farmers and increase commercialization of Cassava in Africa,” Iranloye said.

She stated that Psaltry International is exploring every innovative approach to improve the country’s cassava value chain.

She says Psaltry is into the processing and sales of the finest quality cassava derivatives such as starch, flour, and sorbitol among others, adding that SmartFarm Nigeria would provide the business 150,000metric tons of cassava tubers for its new factory yearly.

Also speaking during the MoU signing, Modupe Oyetoso, founder, SmartFarm Nigeria said that there is a disconnect between smallholder farmers and large agro-processing factories needing their produce owing to issues around quality.

“Farmers produce then look for market, while processors find it difficult to get the raw materials they need because what the farmers produce does not meet the desired quality or the volume produced is too low,” Oyetoso said.

“Our goal is to bridge this gap by leveraging on technology to organise, monitoring and empower farmers to cultivate crops that will meet the need of local processing companies so they would not have to depend on imported farm produce,” she said.

She added that Psaltry International is committed to producing world-class finest cassava derivative and that her organisation is excited to partner with them in achieving this noble goal.

According to her, SmartFarm through its crowdfunding platform will connect farmers to finance to enable them to access key farm inputs and mechanisation services to maximise their yield per hectare.

She says that her orgainsation uses remote sensors to track crop progress throughout the farming season so that it can provide farmers with the needed advice to improve their farm efficiency and maximise the use of inputs.

Oyetoso added that investors on its platform earn as high as 40 percent by investing in a cassava farm through the SmartFarm Nigeria’s website on www.smartfarm.com.ng