Timtooni Agro Supplies is an input dealership supplying out-grower farmers with ploughing support, general sales of seed, agro-chemicals and fertilisers with an agreed buy-back and aggregation of maize, rice and vegetables. Timtooni Agro supplies Avnash and Tamanaa with rice and the World Food Programme with maize. The company has a customer base of 6,500 farmers (of which about 80% are currently women) in about 25 communities in Karaga and Mion districts in the Northern Region, with each farmer cultivating an average of 2 acres. The company has three sales outlets and one main shop in Sang. The partnership with the MADE programme started in 2014 and the company has since aggregated 12,000 MT of rice and 16,000 MT of maize.
MADE interventions
- Recruited two extension volunteer agents from the National Builder Corps to assist in the distribution of inputs, and educating farmers and monitoring their fields.
- Provided out-growers with demonstrations and training on good agricultural practices and the proper and timely application of inputs.
- Facilitated relationships with other MADE partners, such as Tamanaa Enterprise, which supplied Timtooni Agro Supplies with improved seed.
- Facilitated links with output market buyers for vegetable crops.
Impacts
- Increased access to inputs, credit and markets. The business makes provision for input credit support to all its vegetable farmers because it has control over the marketing of vegetables and therefore easily finds buyers.
- Increased understanding of good agricultural practices and the proper application of agro-inputs. Extension volunteers provide support relating to the sale and distribution of fertiliser to smallholder farmers and also extend technical support.
- Increased yields. The average yield for maize has been raised from 4 to 10 bags (100 kg) per acre.
- Experienced consistent growth in revenue as a result of increased sales to a rapidly growing clientele.
