Social Issue

Agriculture is a major contributor to Nigeria’s gross domestic product

(GDP) but it is not reaching its full potential given the relatively low productivity levels. More than 80 percent of farmers in Nigeria are smallholder farmers, where high levels of poverty persist, which is attributed to their low farming yields. 

Multiple factors can explain their productivity challenges – lack of access to affordable credit to invest in their farms and purchase quality inputs and limited knowledge of modern farming techniques. Market access is another important hurdle for smallholder farmers when it comes to selling their produce at a fair price.

Our Response

Netri Foundation has supported Babban Gona since 2016, given its focus on improving the lives of farmers in Nigeria. 

Babban Gona’s mission is to improve smallholder incomes and livelihoods by transitioning to more profitable commercial farming practices. The company organizes farmers into collectives or “trust groups” and uses its technology platform to drive its operations. Over the years, it has built a network of farmers that has enabled the Company to become the current largest maize producer in West Africa.

Babban Gona provides farmers a comprehensive set of services that include access to good quality seed and fertilizer, training in modern farming practices, and financial credit, which all contribute to enhancing the productivity of farmers and reducing the risk to farmers.

Babban Gona also provides post-harvest and marketing services where it aggregates and stores farmers’ harvests and negotiates the sale of the produce on behalf of the farmers.

Expected Social Impact

Historically, farmers who collaborate with Babban Gona have achieved a level of productivity that is more than double the national average. In addition, Babban Gona’s marketing services have allowed farmers to achieve prices that are  20-30% higher than what farmers can normally obtain when operating independently. 

In terms of Netri’s attribution, we estimate that the past two loans have allowed Babban Gona to provide services to over 1,600 farmers and the expectation is that this third loan will facilitate Babban Gona providing services to over 1,500 farmers over the coming years.