Agrisolve Ghana Limited takes a market-driven approach to business growth using integrated models defined by donor-funded projects and programmes involving youths, women and smallholder farmer out-growers. Agrisolve Ghana Limited was given the African Women Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum Agri Entrepreneur Award and the China Europe International Business School Women Entrepreneurship and Leadership for Africa Organization Impact Award. The company aims to improve yields and market access for smallholder farmers involved in the production of maize, soybean and other agriculture produce. Agrisolve delivers essential farm-improvement services (i.e. input credit, extension, mechanisation and market access) to 2,600 smallholder farmers (56% of whom are women), with each farmer cultivating an average of 4 acres across seven districts. The company partnered with the MADE programme in 2019 and increased the combined maize and soybean aggregation to 9,669 MT in that year.
MADE interventions
- Recruited, trained and deployed 17 Farm Enterprise Advisors to deliver farm improvement services to smallholder farmers and out-grower associations.
- Embarked on the registration of out-grower businesses and smallholder farmers.
- Organised training and farm demonstrations on good agricultural practices, pest and disease control and business management for smallholder farmers and out-grower businesses.
- Facilitated a consortium with Trust Link Agro Trading Limited, Guohuoballe Agro-Services and YahaIddri Enterprise to provide leverage on agro-inputs for smallholder farmers.
Impacts
- Increased smallholder farmer outreach by 30%.
- Improved access to markets for over 5,000 smallholder farmers.
- Improved smallholder access to improved farm inputs on credit, in particular through women’s village, savings and loans associations.
- Raised maize yields for smallholder farmers from an average of 2.5 MT per acre in 2017–18 to 4.63 MT per acre in 2019–20.
- Increased understanding of good agricultural practices, and proper and timely application of agro-inputs.
