Guohuoballe Agro-Services is an agribusiness that produces, aggregates and sells agricultural commodities. It is one of the largest aggregators and suppliers of maize and soybean in the Upper West Region. Guohuoballe works with 1,000 smallholder out-growers (14% women) in two districts, each farming an average of 5 acres. The company provides its out-growers with agro-inputs on credit and services such as training on harvesting and marketing their produce. It was named the National Best Maize Farmer in 2019, Agricultural Personality under the Sissala Prestigious Awards in 2018 and District Best Maize Farmer in 2017. It joined the MADE programme in 2018 and between 2018 and 2019 it aggregated 84,000 MT of maize and 2,000 MT of soybean.
MADE interventions
- Recruited, trained and deployed three Farm Enterprise Advisors (FEAs) and one FEA manager.
- Provided demonstrations and training on post-harvest management, record keeping and marketing strategies (price negotiations).
- Facilitated relationships with Yahaiddri Enterprise, Antika Company Limited, Agromite Limited and Agrisolve.
- Facilitated/strengthened a commercial partnership between Guohuoballe and the Ghana Commodity Exchange.
- Introduced the Advanced Business Model.
Impacts
- Increased smallholder outreach from 300 in 2017 to 1,000 in 2019.
- Increased smallholder farmers’ access to markets, inputs and services on credit.
- Increased understanding of good agricultural practices and proper application of agro-inputs.
- Facilitated timely application of inputs.
- Improved financial forecasting and planning for smallholders.
- Raised yields for smallholder farmers from an average of 25 to 32 bags (50 kg) per acre, between 2018 and 2019.
