Eco Project Company Limited deals in agro-inputs and operates in four districts. Since partnering with MADE in 2017, Eco Project has transformed itself into a premium provider of inputs – including vegetable, cereal and legume seed – to 3,000 smallholder farmers (28% women). The company also facilitates access to land preparation and other services through third party providers. In 2018, Eco Project used MADE’s Advanced Model to incorporate crop aggregation into its business model, and aggregated nearly 1,000 MT of maize, rice and soybean from its network of smallholders.
MADE interventions
- Recruited, trained and deployed 13 Farm Enterprise Advisors (FEAs).
- Supported Eco Project in pooling the resources of tractor service providers operating in a fragmented terrain.
- Facilitated commercial relationships between Eco Project and key agro-input and chemical suppliers to improve provision to smallholder farmers.
- Enabled Eco Project to form a partnership with Tamaha Agribusiness Solutions and improve access to crop insurance services for smallholders.
- Introduced the Advanced Model, which Eco Project used to integrate crop aggregation into its business activities.
Impacts
- Expanded smallholder farmer outreach, from 321 in 2015 to 3,000 in 2018.
- Increased smallholders’ access to high-quality agricultural inputs via commercial networks with other businesses.
- Enabled more informed purchasing of agro-inputs by smallholder farmers, through better technical advice.
- Increased yields, from 6 to 15 bags of maize per acre, for smallholder farmers following the intervention of FEAs.
