Agro Supply Ltd

Globally, over 1 billion farmers are impoverished and food insecure. In Uganda, around 75% of the population relies on agriculture and almost 45% live on less than $1.25 a day. Approximately 30% of all rural Ugandans – about 10 million people – live below the poverty line. This includes hundreds of thousands of smallholder farmers (mostly women) who live in remote areas.

Most of these smallholder farmers, especially those located in the regions of Karamoja, East Central, West Nile  and Northern Uganda, face lower food production due to constant dry spells and lack of extension services. These farmers also face cash flow problems: their incomes peak at harvest time, but their greatest expenditure is in the planting season when they should invest in quality seeds, fertilizers, and tools. It can be challenging to manage cash during these cycles. This leads to farmers purchasing low-quality seeds (most of which can’t withstand long periods of drought in most parts of the country) and fertilizer, leading to underproduction on agricultural land.

Agro Supply addresses the challenges faced by smallholder farmers in Uganda by creating a holistic approach that is helping farmers to afford high quality and hybrid (drought resistant) seeds and organic fertilizers through a save-to-buy model. In addition, the company is offering area yield index insurance to further protect farmers. Agro Supply's solution is a comprehensive 4-tier model designed to empower farmers in Uganda by providing access to quality inputs, financial inclusion, and protection.

1. Layaway Payments: Instead of relying on microcredit, farmers use a USSD code, scratch cards, or mobile money to save earnings from harvest periods. This allows them to redeem savings during planting seasons for purchasing seeds and fertilizers, thus locking in savings for agricultural needs.
2. High-Quality Inputs: Agro Supply ensures farmers receive tested and quality inputs, such as drought-resistant seeds, through partnerships with companies like Seedco and Advanta. Inputs are delivered to regional stores or directly to farmers by field agents, ensuring convenient access.
3. Customer Service and Training: Farmers receive training on modern farming techniques and tailored planting recommendations via physical training sessions and SMS messages in local languages. A toll-free number and agents provide additional support.
4. Area Yield Index Insurance: Agro Supply offers insurance covering all risks affecting yield, including climate-related catastrophes and pest diseases. Policyholders receive compensation if average yields in their area fall below a predetermined point, with insurance costs embedded in seed prices.

Agro Supply's solution combines financial services, input supply, agronomic support, and insurance to address the diverse needs of smallholder farmers, fostering resilience and sustainable agricultural practices in Uganda.

Agro Supply serves Uganda's smallholder farmers, a population of around 27 million, with 45% being women. These farmers struggle to access financial services and quality agricultural inputs, hindering farm investment and livelihood improvement. Our solution provides debt-free financing through scratch cards, empowering farmers to invest in quality inputs and boost yields sustainably.

With over 140 field agents (50% women) operating in remote areas, Agro Supply currently serves over 25,000 farmers, ensuring even the most remote farmers receive support. By providing access to financial products, distributing inputs, and delivering agronomy advice, our field agents play a crucial role in improving farming practices and livelihoods.

Agro Supply's impact on farmers' lives and the overall food supply upstream value chain is significant. We create impact by: 

• Helping farmers increase yields, leading to higher incomes and food security.

• Providing formal financial services tailored to farmers' needs, reducing vulnerability to economic shocks.

• Empowering farmers to gain autonomy over finances and farming decisions, enhancing their sense of agency.

• Promoting sustainable farming practices, contributing to long-term resilience.

Our team at Agro Supply is uniquely positioned to deliver our solution because we have deep roots within the communities we serve. Led by Joseph Ogwal, who comes from a farming background himself, we understand the challenges and aspirations of smallholder farmers firsthand. Our team consists of individuals who have lived and worked in rural areas, forging strong connections and trust with local communities.

As a company founded by someone intimately familiar with the realities of smallholder farming, our solution is inherently guided by the input, ideas, and agendas of the communities we serve. We actively engage with farmers through community meetings, focus groups, and feedback sessions to ensure that our solution addresses their specific needs and priorities.

Moreover, our field agents, who make up a significant portion of our team, are recruited locally and reflect the diversity of the communities they serve. With their intimate knowledge of local customs, languages, and farming practices, our field agents play a crucial role in facilitating trust and understanding between Agro Supply and the farmers.

Overall, our team's proximity to and understanding of the communities we serve, combined with our commitment to inclusive and participatory processes, uniquely qualify us to design and deliver a solution that meets the needs of smallholder farmers in Uganda.

Agro Supply is at a growth stage due to its successful implementation and proven impact in serving smallholder farmers in Uganda. We have built and tested a robust save-to-buy financial product, coupled with access to high-quality agricultural inputs and agronomy advice. Through our innovative solution, we have served over 25,000 farmers, empowering them to improve farm productivity, increase incomes, and break the cycle of poverty. This demonstrated success, coupled with our tripled customer numbers and 900% revenue increase over four years, highlights Agro Supply's readiness for further expansion and impact at this growth stage.

Solve's platform provides an opportunity for Agro Supply to connect with a diverse network of partners, experts, and stakeholders who can help us overcome specific barriers and accelerate the impact of our solution, Agro Supply.

Specifically, we hope Solve can help us overcome the following barriers:

1. Access to Funding: While we have seen significant growth and impact with Agro Supply, scaling our solution to reach a larger number of smallholder farmers requires additional financial resources. Solve's network of investors and philanthropic partners can provide crucial funding to support our expansion efforts.

2. Technical Expertise: have tested a tech-driven model that works and has strong traction empowering over 25,000 smallholder farmers. We want to venture into agro processing to add value to harvests thereby further enriching our farmers. We hope to be paired with mentors and advisors to help us execute our agro processing vision seamlessly

3. Market Insights and Partnerships: Expanding our reach and impact requires strategic partnerships and a deep understanding of market dynamics. Solve can connect us with potential partners, customers, and stakeholders who can provide valuable market insights and help us forge strategic collaborations to scale our solution effectively.

Agro Supply is focused on increasing crop diversity, tailoring planting recommendations to each region’s local context (via SMS, curating videos/audio lessons in local language, and via trained agents), promoting compost use, and encouraging the addition of acidity-reducing lime to soils. They are encouraging legume crops and interchanging cereal crops to fix more nitrogen into the soil. This ultimately leads to richer and more resilient soils that guarantee farmers’ yields. They also provide drought-resistant seeds, which allow desert lands to be arable.

The company has 20K+ rural smallholder farmers onboarded of which about 48% are women. Through its village agents network, Agro Supply has contributed significantly to rural jobs creation in the regions they currently operate (Northern, Eastern Uganda and Karamoja). Agro Supply is also seeking to increase savings frequency among farmers through financial literacy training. Further, farmers don’t pay to use Agro Supply’s system and can use their feature phones to save through the USSD code.

The increasing drought in Uganda has led to a significant reduction in farmers’ yields and hence many families are forced to have only one meal a day. Agro Supply supplies drought-tolerant seeds to their farmers, ensuring that farmers can still harvest great yields even with the adverse effects of drought. Therefore, the company is building resilience among farmers.

Agro Supply also believes that the people who are involved in growing food should never go hungry. Therefore, they introduced crops such as yellow beans (rich in vitamins) and yellow sweet potatoes (rich in proteins and vitamins) to help the farmers’ families’ nutrition needs.

Agro Supply's impact on smallholder farmers' quality of life and resilience to climate shocks is also underscored by a study conducted by 60 Decibels, an impact measurement company. Don’t just take our word and traction alone for it. 60 Decibels, interviewed farmers, agents, and households that have worked with Agro Supply last year. Below are some of the key insights:

1. Improvement in Quality of Life: The study reveals that Agro Supply has had a significant positive impact on farmers' quality of life, with nearly 9 in 10 farmers reporting an improvement. This improvement is attributed to increased production and earnings facilitated by Agro Supply's services, reducing stress about meeting basic needs.

2. Resilience to Climate Shocks: Despite facing frequent climate shocks, such as drought or severe lack of rain, 81% of farmers surveyed experienced in their households, Agro Supply has played a crucial role in aiding farmers' recovery. By providing access to savings for quality inputs and agronomy advice, Agro Supply has helped farmers mitigate the impact of climate shocks and build resilience in the face of environmental challenges.

3. Contribution to Recovery: The study highlights that 70% of farmers acknowledge Agro Supply's positive contribution to their recovery from climate shocks. By empowering farmers to invest in their farms and adopt sustainable agricultural practices, Agro Supply has enabled them to bounce back more effectively after experiencing adverse events.

These insights from the study by 60 Decibels underscore Agro Supply's effectiveness in improving farmers' livelihoods and resilience in the face of climate-related challenges. By addressing the specific needs of smallholder farmers and providing tailored solutions, Agro Supply is driving meaningful and measurable impact in agricultural communities.

Our impact goals for Agro Supply are centered around creating transformative change in the lives of smallholder farmers in Uganda and beyond. We aim to achieve the following impact goals:

• Improved Livelihoods: Our primary goal is to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers by increasing their farm productivity, incomes, and overall well-being. We measure progress towards this goal by tracking key indicators such as:

  • Increase in farm yields and crop production

  • Growth in farmers' incomes and household savings

• Financial Inclusion: Agro Supply seeks to promote financial inclusion among smallholder farmers by providing access to formal financial services tailored to their needs. We measure progress towards this goal by monitoring indicators such as:

  • Number of farmers accessing and utilizing Agro Supply's financial products

  • Increase in the number of farmers with savings and access to credit

  • Improvement in farmers' financial literacy and confidence in managing their finances

• Climate Resilience: Given the vulnerability of smallholder farmers to climate shocks, Agro Supply aims to build resilience and adaptive capacity in agricultural communities. We measure progress towards this goal by tracking indicators such as:

  • Farmers' ability to withstand and recover from climate-related shocks

  • Adoption of sustainable farming practices and technologies (e.g., # of views of on Agro Supply training videos or visits to demo gardens)

• Gender Equity: Agro Supply is committed to promoting gender equity and empowerment among smallholder farmers, particularly women. We measure progress towards this goal by monitoring indicators such as:

  • Participation and representation of women in Agro Supply's programs and decision-making processes

  • Increase in women's access to and control over productive resources e.g., ownership of financial accounts, mobile phones used to access Agro Supply’s services, etc.

To measure our progress towards these impact goals, we utilize a combination of quantitative and qualitative data collection methods, including surveys, interviews, focus group discussions, and impact assessments such as the independent study carried out by 60 Decibels.

The technology powering Agro Supply's solution is a dynamic combination of USSD (284*43#), SMS, and a user-friendly web dashboard. For farmers, accessing the Save-to-Buy system is as simple as dialing 284*43# with either MTN or Airtel networks, enabling them to conveniently manage their savings and access financial services. Important notifications and updates are relayed to farmers via SMS, ensuring timely communication and transparency throughout the process. 

Meanwhile, administrators utilize a robust web dashboard to monitor and analyze farmer transactions, enabling them to make informed decisions and provide tailored support as needed. This integrated approach ensures seamless interaction between farmers and the Agro Supply platform, facilitating greater financial inclusion and agricultural empowerment within Uganda's smallholder farming communities.

• 14 Full-time
• 5 contract staff & interns
• 140+ agents

Since 2017 with formal launch in 2018

At Agro Supply, we recognize the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusivity (DEI) in our work to ensure that our solutions are accessible and beneficial to all smallholder farmers, regardless of their backgrounds or circumstances. 

This is reflected in our team with diverse backgrounds both technically, culturally, and gender-wise; all with a focus on serving our customers (smallholder farmers) equitably and sustainably. Agro Supply has shown ability to incorporate diversity right from the Founders to the agents and farmers at the list mile. We have ensured equitable access to high-quality inputs, training materials, and financing through use of multiple languages and technology access levels (USSD, paper recharge cards, etc) on our distribution channels. 

Overall, our approach to DEI reflects our commitment to creating a more equitable and inclusive agricultural sector, where all smallholder farmers have equal opportunities to thrive and succeed. By embracing diversity, equity, and inclusivity in our work, we aim to create positive and lasting change for the communities we serve.

The revenue model is commission-based as Agro Supply keeps a 25 – 30% commission on all input sold. Agro Supply is, in Uganda, the exclusive distributor for Seed Co, one of the  largest (cereal) seed companies in Africa, that operates in 15 countries.

We plan to fund our growth through a number of financing options including through: 

• Revenue growth through diversification - Agro Supply is diversifying to among other things, undertake agro processing of harvest. This will allow us increase not only sales but also margins on processed outputs. Our GMV growth of over 25% MoM (~10X) in the past 5 years is a testament to the huge need and the strength of our value proposition. 
• Debt & Equity Financing - Agro Supply already has commitments of up to $700k of financing (between equity and debt) with over 30% of those wired from impact investors, development bank, and so on. We have strong backing from many impact investors including Catalyst Fund and are currently on due diligence stage with at least 3 investors towards closing our $2.4M seed round this year. 
• Grant - Agro supply has attracted over $250k in grants to date and continue to leverage this as a funding mechanism where possible