AA Peigu Enterprise has over 15 years of experience operating as an agribusiness. It specialises in the production and aggregation of rice from out-growers, for whom it provides tractor and other mechanisation services. It is also engaged in soybean production, but on a relatively modest scale. The company joined the MADE programme in 2016 with 600 out-growers, and this number has increased to 900 farmers, of which about 45% are women. The out-growers are spread across seven districts, each cultivating an average of 5 acres. Services such as business acceleration training, and fertiliser, seed and weedicides use and application are provided to the smallholder farmers. The company was awarded Tamale Metro Best Youth Farmer in 2015. In the 2019 production year, the total volume of produce aggregated was 2,000 MT for maize and 2,250 MT for rice.
MADE interventions
- Recruited, trained and deployed two Farm Enterprise Advisors (FEAs) responsible for training, registration and monitoring of farmers.
- Provided direct tractor ploughing support and other complementary services to out-growers.
- Provided good agronomic practice demonstrations.
- Facilitated relationships with Wumpini Agro Chemicals and Ganorma Company Limited.
- Provided business coaching support from the Business Growth Accelerator Programme.
Impacts
- Increased smallholder outreach from 600 in 2016 to 900 in 2019.
- Increased understanding of good agricultural practices and proper application of agro-inputs using farm demonstrations to showcase the use and application of inputs.
- Increased yields of maize from 5 to 10 bags (100 kg) per acre and of rice from 7 to 15 bags (100 kg) per acre compared to the previous production year; this was possible because of the adoption of improved seed and the application of best practices on cropping fields.
- Enhanced credit recovery performance through increased monitoring of farmers’ fields by the FEAs.
