Rujo Agritrade Company Limited is an agricultural production and commodity trading company, and a certified grower of maize, rice and soybean. The company’s production comes from its commercial farms and a network of 3,000 out-grower smallholder farmers (55% women). These smallholder farmers are supported with mechanisation services and bundles of inputs on an in-kind credit arrangement. In particular, Rujo Agritrade is able to supply agro-inputs suitable for cereals, having secured favourable terms and conditions with major input dealers such as RMG Limited. In the 2017/2018 season Rujo Agritrade aggregated over 5,000 MT of produce from its farmers.
MADE interventions
- Worked with Agritrade to recruit, train and deploy 15 Farm Enterprise Advisors.
- Facilitated links between Agritrade and suppliers of agro-inputs and tractor brokerage including six tractor service providers from the middle belt of Southern Ghana.
- Enabled Agritrade to provide support to underserved farmers using extension services from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture.
- Strengthened relationships between Agritrade and mechanisation services providers (e.g. Batbak Services), major importers of improved agricultural inputs, and financial institutions (e.g. Barclays Bank and Sinapi Aba Savings and Loans Limited) to extend credit financing.
- Introduced the Advanced Model: Agritrade has invested in the components of land preparation, improved seed, plant nutrition and protection, and good agricultural practice.
Impacts
- Increased smallholder farmer outreach from 834 in 2015 to 3,000 in 2019.
- Increased the area of land farmed by out-growers from 297 acres in 2015 to 6,612 acres in 2019.
- Increased understanding among smallholder farmers on the proper application and use of agro-inputs.
- Facilitated more timely application of agro-inputs on smallholder farms through improved service provision.
- Enabled smallholder farmers to increase their annual yields to 15 bags of 105 kg per acre for maize, and 13 bags of 92 kg per acre for rice by the end of the 2017/2018 season.
