Crop2Cash

The problem

Nigeria is a top maize producer with 10.5 million tonnes, its average yield of 1.57 tonnes/ha is among the lowest in Africa. Nigeria requires a 50% increase in maize production to meet the increasing demand. Frequent drought and high temperatures resulting from climate variability and change negatively impact maize production. Delay in rainfall and flooding are identified as the top hazards in Niger and Kaduna according to USAID report.

By 2050 according to PWC2 scientific report 2021, the yield of the non–drought-tolerant maize varieties will decline by between 13% and 28% according to different climate forecasts. Nigeria has high vulnerability and low readiness against climate change ranked 161st out of 192 countries in the ND-Gain index. Farmers in Northern Nigeria lack adequate financial resources and cannot access finance to scale and transform their operations to be more resilient.

The company

Crop2Cash provides smallholder farmers with access to formal financing for agricultural inputs and enables them to receive digital payments, as well as access to other digital financial services such as access to credit. Also, Crop2Cash is addressing this exclusion by unlocking access to affordable financing for smallholder farmers in Nigeria using USSD platform that give farmers access to digital financial services.

Project description

Nigeria requires a 50% increase in maize production to meet increasing demand. Frequent drought and high temperatures resulting from climate variability and change negatively impacts maize production. Our project seeks to connect farmers to high-yielding drought-resistant seeds via USSD to ensure resilience and increase their income. This is supported with tailored SMS to provide weather advisory to smallholder farmers on best agricultural practices.