Locagro: empowering smallholder farmers with innovative solutions

Majority of farmland in sub-Saharan Africa is managed by smallholder farmers. They are such important players in the food and agriculture sector, producing majority of the food consumed by urban and rural dwellers, yet they are faced with a myriad of challenges. Challenges that have been there since I was introduced to Agriculture Science in Primary School. 

Challenges that affects their well-being and livelihoods. Out of the 2.5 billion people in poor countries living directly from the food and agriculture sector, 1.5 billion people live in smallholder households. Many of those households are extremely poor.

Women are not left out as they comprise an average of 50 percent of the agricultural labour force in sub-Saharan Africa. 

Smallholder farmers when empowered hold the key to meeting sustainable development goals (SDGs) one and two with overarching effects on the 15 other SDGs. For instance, women farmers when given the same access to productive resources as men could increase their farm yields by 20 -30 percent. Women are drivers of change towards sustainable production systems and healthier diets for households. 

Smallholder farmers matter for sustainability as properly managed smallholder systems invest in building soil biomass and soil vegetative cover which improves water filtration for flood and retention in case of droughts. With reduced usage of fossil fuel, smallholder traditional practices also mitigate climate change through reduced emissions and enhanced soil carbon sequestration.

The fourth industrial revolution is upon us and leveraging on these technological advancements to provide solutions for smallholder farmers will ensure economic, environmental and social development.

At Locagro, we believe that providing solutions from farm to fork is very important to our food production system. Locagro is a Ghanaian based enterprise created in 2017 with a focus on empowering smallholder farmers with innovative farming solutions to increase their productivity and reduce the negative environmental impact of their farming activities.

Locagro integrates agriculture, technology and finance to provide solutions to three major problems facing smallholder farmers: access to market, access to capital and lack of knowledge in smart farming techniques. 

Locagro offers farmers the opportunity of a ready market even before harvest through planning of the entire production cycle, providing information to farmers, new agribusinesses (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC3q0l4YQmyePV-YqZ2lIo1w/videos) and capacity building in microdosing which is a strategy to replenish nutrients in the soil through precise application of in small doses. Through Nocofio (www.nocofio.com), Locagro provides an access to financial services by crowdfunding for smallholder agribusinesses.

Locagro has its operation base in Nsawam, Ghana. We believe policy makers should develop national agriculture plans devoid of political agenda to scale-up support to sustainable smallholder farmers, develop their entrepreneurial capacities and create viable livelihoods in the rural areas, with a special focus on women and youth. 

 

Akwasi A. Tagoe

akwasi@nocofio.com 

"THE BEST CULTURE IS AGRICULTURE"