Asrahms Limited is an agribusiness that undertakes aggregation, sales of agricultural inputs, production and the supply of specialist services. Asrahms supports smallholder farmers with inputs and services such as maize seed, soybean seed, fertiliser, weedicide and insecticide on credit. It also trains farmers in good agronomic practice, record keeping and farming as a business. The company currently works with 2,011 farmers, of which 915 (45%) are women. Each farmer cultivates at least 2 acres, all in Sissala East and West (in the Upper West Region). The company has trained its smallholder farmers to produce good-quality seed and they have come to appreciate the intervention. It joined the MADE programme in 2018 and since then has aggregated 5,800 MT of maize and 1,500 MT of soybean.
MADE interventions
- Recruited, trained and deployed ten Farm Enterprise Advisors (FEAs) and one FEA manager to train and monitor the crop performance of the farmers.
- Facilitated links with tractor services.
- Introduced insurance for farmers.
- Supported underserved farmers using extension services from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture for follow up on all stages of the farming season.
- Provided demonstrations and training.
- Facilitated relationships with other MADE partners – Antika, Agrisolve and Wumpini Agro Chemicals – for ploughing services.
- Facilitated/strengthened commercial partnerships with other enterprises.
Impacts
- Increased smallholder outreach to over 2,011 within the past two years.
- Increased access to inputs, credit and markets.
- Increased understanding of good agricultural practices and proper application of agro-inputs.
- Facilitated timely application of inputs.
- Improved financial forecasting and planning for smallholders.
- Increased yields for maize from 2 to 7 bags (100 kg) per acre and soybean from 2 to 5 bags (50 kg) per acre.
