When you think of agriculture, I am sure you imagine a farmer with a cutlass on a sunny afternoon. You might be correct, but the picture is way bigger; it has to be! This sector contributed 8 trillion to the Nigerian economy in the first quarter alone, the largest in the entire country( e shock you?). You can now see why we have been pushing the Agriculture gospel for over nine years. At the Agric Desk, we remain committed to lead innovation and maximizing the potential of the sector. We are market pioneers, and this year one of the ways we are revolutionizing the space is through our technology. In this newsletter, we give you a bit of what has happened since the year started.

The Pyramids are back

We start with a very impressive update. Between March and May, we witnessed the inauguration of rice pyramids in both Kebbi and Ado Ekiti and the maize pyramid in Katsina. While there is still a long way to ensure food security, it is clear that the CBN policy direction through programs like Anchor Borrower’s Programme (ABP) and the Agric, Small and medium enterprise scheme (AGSMEIS) have stimulated smallholder farmers despite the issue of security. In a time when the most pressing conversation is around food sufficiency, this is a step in the right direction.

Bird Flu

In April, The  (NCDC) reported an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 in poultry on 30 farms from seven states in Nigeria. The affected states include Kano, Plateau, Bauchi, Gombe, Nasarawa, Kaduna and the Niger. Over the next month, farmers lost more than 100000 birds across farms in some states. However, through proper coordination, the losses were appropriately managed. While the case is seemingly under control, it is a reminder to put necessary controls in place to protect our livestock this season to avoid losses.

Seed, Time and Harvest

As we approach the planting season, let’s not forget our programs: our Fertilizer program, Tractor Acquisition Scheme and our SAISS(Sterling Agro-Input Support Scheme), which would come in handy for farmers and customers this period. In six months alone, we have seen the price of input grow by 25%, and to make the most of this, we have products designed to improve the outputs for the planting season. We believe that we can partner with farmers to make the most of this season.

SABEX

SABEX is a digital commodity exchange platform for agro-commodities, powered by blockchain technology. Our platform would facilitate the local exchange of agro-commodities by building an ecosystem of buyers, financiers, warehouse operators, and other agro-commodity trading value chains across Nigeria. As elites that we are using blockchain as well, and not to brag, this is the first of its kind in Nigeria. The sweet part is that despite launching in January, our product is already getting nominated for awards and gaining international recognition. SABEX is one for you to look out for, and considering the rate at which commodity price is changing, this one came at the right time.

SWAY AG FIN

I am sure that you have probably heard of this our product, but we can’t talk enough about it. Even though we want to make money, we care about equality, so this product isn’t for everyone. SWAY AG Fin stands for (Sterling Women and Youth Agricultural Finance). In a bid to curtail some of the challenges faced by smallholder farmers and alleviate the impact of the pandemic on their businesses, Sterling bank and MasterCard Foundation together set aside a N12billion Covid-19 rapid response relief fund to ease access to affordable finance for all players within the agricultural space.

What that means is that any woman or youth(18-35) can access single digit loans for their agriculture business. We all know how hard things have been, and we are looking out for our community. It’s not easy, but since we started, we have supported farmers with over 100 million, and guess what; we want to do more. So if you know anybody that qualifies for this, reach out to the team or visit us at SwayAgfin

More to come…..

You know we can’t give you all the gist in one newsletter. We have products that cater to every step of the value chain for those that don’t know. We are doing a host of other things at the Agric desk that we would like you to know about, so keep watching this space. Kindly contact us at Agric Desk  or visit our Agric Hub  and our platform to learn more about the incredible ways we are changing the face of agriculture in the country