Gumaya Enterprise Limited aggregates rice, maize, soybean and onions from more than 2,600 smallholder out-growers (21% women) farming an average of 3.9 acres each across 10 districts in the Northern, Savannah, North East and Upper East regions of Ghana. Gumaya markets this produce using its strong links with companies such as Avnash Industries Limited, the World Food Programme and Global Commodities. The company also supplies 5,000 smallholder farmers (out-growers and others) with mechanisation services and agro-inputs. Gumaya joined the MADE programme in 2016, and in 2019 it aggregated more than 600 MT of produce from its out-growers.
MADE interventions
- Recruited, trained and deployed 13 Farm Enterprise Advisors.
- Enabled Gumaya to increase its provision of mechanisation services to smallholder farmers though collaboration with local operators.
- Facilitated commercial relationships between Gumaya and major suppliers such as Yara Ghana Limited to ensure adequate stocks of agro-inputs for client smallholders.
- Strengthened partnerships between Gumaya and output markets, enabling the company to buy back from out-grower farmers after harvest.
- Introduced the Advanced Model, which enabled Gumaya to offer a bundle of inputs to smallholder farmers, including extension services from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.
Impacts
- Expanded smallholder farmer outreach from 825 in 2015 to 2,601 in 2018.
- Increased smallholders’ access to markets and high-quality agricultural inputs via commercial networks with other businesses.
- Enabled more timely application of agro-inputs and services on smallholders’ land.
- Raised yields for smallholder farmers from an average of seven bags of maize per acre to 12.5 bags; seven bags of rice to 15 bags; and 33.5 bags of onions to 102.5 bags, between 2016 and 2019.
