It is absolutely not easy running a farm without sophisticated equipment and the right expertise. One of the major reasons why agriculture is not booming in Nigeria is because of the lack of funding from the government and the advent of crowd farming is gradually taking agriculture to a whole new level.
What is crowdfarming?
Crowdfarming involves sourcing funds from several individuals to invest in smallholder agricultural enterprises.
Crowd farming has made agriculture much easier such that, instead of waiting for government loans and grants or waiting for investors to put in high amounts of money, you are basically pushing it out to the masses to invest as little as they can with a certain percentage return on investment. You’re basically asking people to enter into relationships with you. Crowdfarming is pretty much new concept and this crowdfunding niche is almost untouched, unlike other industries.
The impacts of crowdfarming in Nigeria’s agricultural system
Crowdfarming is fast becoming the fastest and easiest means of getting people to invest in agriculture in Nigeria. It can be faster than the traditional fundraising.
Some of the Crowd farming startups changing the face of agriculture in Nigeria are;
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Farmcrowdy
Farmcrowdy is Nigeria’s First Digital Agriculture Platform that empowers rural farmers by providing them with improved seeds, farm inputs, training on modern farming techniques and provides a market for the sale of their farm produce. It is one of the most popular crowdfarming startups in Nigeria and according to statistics has empowered over 11000 rural small scale farmers.
Porkmoney
Pork accounts for about $3 billion of consumption value in Ghana and Nigeria alone, more than 80% of which is imported. Imagine the possibilities of this industry in Africa. PorkMoney is the leading pig farming enterprise in West Africa.
PorkMoney partners’ funds sponsor the purchase and breeding of pigs till maturation. The pigs are then processed, packaged and sold after 11 months. Partners earn between 15-30% returns on their capitals based on the plan of choice.
Thrive Agric
Thrive Agric is using a crowdfunding platform to provide farmers with the finance they need to grow their businesses and offer ordinary people the chance to invest in agriculture. Thrive Agric work with smallholder farmers in Africa to give them access to finance, best practices, and linkages to big buyers upon harvest.
Thrive Agric gives individual investors the opportunity to fund a farm, empower farmers, learn practical agricultural tips and share in the harvest. Farms are listed on the platform, complete with details of what it takes to fund a unit, such as an acre of rice or 100 chicks, the length of time until return, and the returns themselves.
Read also: How Technology Can Enhance Agriculture’s Success in Nigeria
E-Farms Nigeria
E-Farms Nigeria is an online platform that allows Farm Investors to invest in a farm to fund smallholder farmers.
The startup is focused on providing investors passionate about the agricultural sector but without the skills and/or the time required to effectively manage a farm with viable investment options with ROIs ranging from 15-35% and investment cycles ranging from 6 months to 18 Months.
Farmkart
Farmkart is an agric-tech platform where people can invest in livestock farming to increase local food production, support farmers and get returns on their investment. The goals of Farmkart is to make an impact on food security, support our local farmers by creating capital and jobs as well as promoting youth inclusion in agriculture in Nigeria.
Farmkart agri-products focuses more on aquaculture (ie. fish farming). This is based on research that reported that Nigeria is the highest importer of Fish products in Africa and the 4th largest in the world after China, Japan, and the USA.
Crowdfunding is deemed to be a viable and scalable alternative source of funding for startups and small businesses, charities and other project creators in Africa.
So rather than purchase farmlands and get involved the daily routine of the industry, startups like FarmCrowdy, ThriveAgric, Farmkart, and PorkMoney enable interested middle-class Nigerians to fund existing farms for a harvest cycle and earn a share of profits.
Credit to: invoice.ng