Ariku Company Limited

About

Ariku Company Limited processes and markets certified seed under the Ariku Seed brand, selling through its own shop, other retailers and the Planting for Food and Jobs programme. Ariku produces seed at a 1,200-acre farm in the Upper East Region, and by contracting 3,000 out-grower farmers (of which 70% are women) across three districts, with each out-grower farming an average of 2acres. The company also sells cereal grain to wholesale aggregators and poultry farms, and has invested in mango and cocoa production in southern Ghana. Ariku is an innovative and fast-growing company with multiple commercial partnerships. It joined the MADE programme in 2018 and reported a growth of 6,000MT of produce in 2019. 

MADE interventions

  • Recruited, trained and deployed seven Farm Enterprise Advisors (FEAs) and one FEA manager. 
  • Strengthened a trading relationship between Ariku (supplying seed) and Simple Prince (supplying fertiliser). 
  • Facilitated a stronger commercial partnership between Ariku and Yelsumde, another local seed producer: Ariku provides seed processing and the two companies share resources such as tractors and FEAs. 
  • Facilitated linkages with extension services from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture for remote, underserved farmers. 
  • Provided demonstrations and training on postharvest handling and how to store and sell produce.

Impacts

  • Established a 95% crop recovery rate for Ariku and its out-growers. 
  • Increased the number of contracted smallholder farmers from 1,750 in 2017 to 3,000 in 2019 
  • Enabled smallholder out-growers to increase the size of their farms to as much as 5acres. 
  • Facilitated yield increases in the wider cereal sector through a high uptake of open-pollinated and hybrid seed varieties. 
  • Increased income security for smallholder farmers through support for dry-season vegetable production. 
  • Raised yields for smallholder farmers from an average of 7 to 15bags (100kg) per acre for maize, 10 to 22bags (100kg) per acre for rice, 3 to 10bags (50kg) per acre for soybean and 3 to 12bags (100kg) per acre for cowpea, between 2017 and 2019.
Location

Contact information

Business name: Ariku Company Limited
Address: P.O. Box 167 Bawku, adjacent to Bazua Christian Academy
Region: Upper East
Contact person: Ariku Martin Akudugu
Job title: CEO
Phone: 024 448 6929 / 020 251 6060 / 024 090 7509

Products and services

Products: cereals, fruits, legumes
Agricultural inputs: fertiliser, seeds, weedicide
Crop services: mechanisation, warehousing and storage
Farm advisory services: fall armyworm control, good agricultural practices, post-harvest management

The information in this profile has been gathered from the agribusiness enterprise.
Profile updated: October 2020.