Agromite Limited provides inputs and specialised mechanisation services, from land preparation to harvesting operations. The company’s contract farming scheme involves 2,000 farmers, of which 37% are women, in seven districts in the Upper West Region. Credit support offered by the company covers contract farmers cultivating an average of 3 acres for maize and 1 acre for soybean. The company supplies maize to RMG Limited, Dormaa poultry farms and Tema Flower Mill. Since joining the MADE programme in 2018, the company has implemented the Advanced Business Model, which has enabled it to make its specialised services accessible and affordable to smallholder farmers. The combined volume of produce aggregated in 2019/20 was 4,450 MT of maize and 4,050 MT of soybean.
MADE interventions
- Recruited, trained and deployed 11 Farm Enterprise Advisors (FEAs) and one FEA manager responsible for training farmers and monitoring their fields.
- Introduced crop insurance as part of a wider set of credit services provided to smallholders.
- Provided demonstrations and training in good agricultural practices. This usually engages farmers in a group setting, but due to COVID-19, the company has instead designed a poster to provide tutorials on good agricultural practices.
- Introduced harrowing, harvesting and threshing services exclusively for the soybean market.
- Strengthened commercial partnerships with other enterprises. All of the inputs supplied to farmers are sourced from RMG Ghana Limited through a commercial business partnership model.
Impacts
- Increased smallholder outreach. The company has seen a 500% year-on-year growth in outreach over three years.
- Improved the quality of service delivered to farmers using the FEA model.
- Increased understanding of good agricultural practices and proper application of agro-inputs, which has led to farm productivity enhancements.
- Increased access to inputs, credit and markets. All beneficiary farmers can access the full input package on a credit basis, and extra purchases made by the company guarantee access to output markets.
- Improved financial forecasting and planning for smallholders. Developed and trained smallholders on how to use the smaller farmer activity record book to track their farm investment.
