ThriveAgric, an agricultural technology company announced that it has disbursed as much as $100 million in loans to empower over 500,000 smallholder farmers in more than 2900 communities to scale food production in Africa.
This is contained in its recently released 2022 Impact Report reiterating the company’s mission to build the largest network of profitable farmers and accelerate an Africa that feeds itself.
In the year under review, the Nigeria-founded company scaled its operations into neighbouring Ghana, and Kenya in East Africa amongst other feats.
Other key highlights of the report include offering loans of up to $100 million to smallholder farmers, a 153.3 percent year-on-year increase in the number of women impacted, and producing 1.5 million MT of produce.
To accomplish these milestones, the agricultural company 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.
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Samirah Bello, partnership lead at ThriveAgric said: “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 said.
Speaking on the social impact, Uka Eje, CEO and co-founder of ThriveAgric 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, fertilizers 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,” the CEO said.
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, providing 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), the agricultural company 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.
The company will also be working with organisations that leverage its Agricultural Operating Software (AOS) to provide access to loans for their farmers and is currently onboarding partners.
With food security projected by the UN to rise to a record 310 million Africans by 2030, ThriveAgric has planned expansions into Tanzania, Egypt, and Zambia to alleviate the potential impact.
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