Nigerian agri-tech companies Farmcrowdy Group and Livestock247 have partnered to boost livestock production and trading in the West African country.
Disrupt Africa reported earlier this month Farmcrowdy, which raised seed funding of US$1 million in March, had launched the Farmcrowdy Group, an umbrella company of which the Farmcrowdy sponsorship platform is just one subsidiary. As part of this, it launched an agricultural commodities marketplace – FarmGate Africa – to connect local farmers with buyers.
It is through FarmGate Africa that the company has partnered with Livestock247, an online livestock market established to bring together buyers, sellers and other key players in the livestock value chain. The aim of the partnership is to deepen the offerings in the agricultural space in terms of proper organisation and profitable deployment of funds to key areas of production and trading.
Farmcrowdy and Livestock247 are piloting a cattle feedlot in Adamawa State. The first phases have been successful, and seen the businesses scale production to over 24,000 bulls. On the trading end, FarmGate Africa has anchored the relationship that sees Livestock247.com trading in excess of 20,000 bulls in over 10 abattoirs in Lagos so far this year alone.
“Our goal has always been to collaborate with relevant partners in the agribusiness space to deliver value for both smallholder farmers and major processors and buyers. With our livestock portfolio, we have received substantial orders from notable key accounts that require bulls with specific criteria. Our vision is a shared one with Livestock247, and this sees us developing the marketing together both from a production and marketing point,” Kenneth Obiajulu, co-founder and managing director of FarmGate Africa, said.
