Founded in 2013 by CEO Alloysius Attah and COO Emmanuel Addai, Farmerline has quickly grown into a smallholder agri-tech market leader in home country Ghana and beyond in Africa. The company helps to transform rural smallholder farmers into successful entrepreneurs by delivering data and services that improve productivity, decisions, practices, crop outputs, income, and livelihoods, leading to food security, employment opportunities and increased income.

Allround farmer services

Through its award-winning farm management system Mergdata, Farmerline offers training to smallholder farmers in good agricultural practices, knowledge transfer on smart use of agrochemicals and climate-resilient agricultural methods to help farmers increase their yields. Merdata also sends bulk messages on weather, provide crop insurance and other agronomic advice to thousands of farmers in their local language.

What is agri-tech?

Agri-tech, sometimes ag-tech, agtech or digital agriculture, is the application of technology and digital tools to farming. It encompasses a wide range of technologies, including automation, biotechnology, information monitoring and data analysis.

Agri-tech can be used to improve efficiency, increase yields, reduce costs and boost sustainability. It has become increasingly important in recent years as demand for food increases and climate change becomes an ever-present threat to food security.

Furthermore, Farmerline ensures farmers are connected to buyers nationally and around the world through its trading platform. Farmerline first sources it’s commodities from within its network of cooperatives where it has a first right of purchase. Since 2020, Farmerline trades soybeans, rice, corn, cashew and sheanuts to local and international off takers including processors and aggregators and is currently exploring other value chains like cassava and vegetables. In addition, Farmerline also provides financing for drought-resistant seeds (no GMO) and organic and inorganic fertilizer (applying WHO standards) through a network of agro dealers.

The company reaches over 300,000 smallholder farmers through its farmer services/training platform and over 1.7 million farmers via third party licensing of its Mergdata software to over 3,000 companies in 48 countries spread across Africa, Europe, and the US.

Ecological and societal resilience

The USD 1.5 million facility provided by Hivos-Triodos Fonds will be used to strengthen Farmerline’s working capital needs to expand its reach and provide its services to a greater number of smallholder farmers.

The global food crisis and climate change have a devastating impact on many African nations and even more on rural and farming communities. These problems are exacerbated by the lack of access to basic needs like quality inputs, technology, information, training, and access to market to enable the farmers to grow more food in a sustainable manner and earn more income, explains Investment Manager Jerry Kwo. “Farmerline has developed a functional solution leveraging technology to solve these problems and increase food security. This is a good fit with Hivos-Triodos Fonds in terms of positive impact in ecological and societal resilience and in improving the wellbeing of thousands of small holder farmers in West Africa.”

  • All photos by courtesy of Farmerline