Nigerian agri-tech startup Farmcrowdy has launched a mobile app that allows users to fund small scale farming from their phones.
Farmcrowdy matches small-scale farmers with farm sponsors for the purpose of expanding food production and generating profit for both parties. The platform allows Nigerians to participate in agriculture without necessarily having to farm themselves, with sponsors selecting a farm and providing it with backing for inputs.
A Techstars Atlanta alumnus, Farmcrowdy reshapes the way in which people participate in farming and food production, using an online platform to source funds from sponsors, whose money is used to secure land, plant crops and meet the funding needs of boosting food production with small scale farmers.
Since the launch of its website 12 months ago, Farmcrowdy has recorded close to 1,000 unique farm sponsors, aggregated a combined 4,000 acres of farmland in Nigeria for farming purpose and grown over 150,000 organic chickens to date.
The launch of the mobile app will provide a more accessible platform for agriculture enthusiasts to experience, learn and appreciate agriculture practice first-hand. Farmcrowdy currently provides regular updates, images and videos from the farmers as they work on the sponsored farms, providing an opportunity for their sponsors and farm followers to digitally track the journey of their sponsored farm through regular updates.
“We have launched the Farmcrowdy app to provide an accessible, real-time platform for people on the go, who do not want to miss out on empowering their own communities. In the past month alone, we have witnessed over 500 farm units of poultry – 25,000 chicks – sell out in a few hours to engage farmers who would have found it difficult accessing loans in the banks; so it’s super fast-paced,” said Onyeka Akumah, co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Farmcrowdy.
“People are equally excited about creating impact in the lives of our farmers while earning a decent return. Nigeria is a mobile-first society and we had feedback from our sponsors who said they wanted improved access to our farms. They spoke, we listened, and we have now built a platform that suits Nigerians’ preferred means of doing business – a mobile app.”
