Havenhill Synergy Limited “Havenhill” launches Farm Fuse, an initiative that will reduce food insecurity in Nigeria by revamping local agricultural value chains for approximately 10,000 smallholder farmers across these communities. Havenhill Synergy Limited “Havenhill” innovates around the business of increasing energy access to last-mile communities in Nigeria. The pilot phase begins in Abuja, Nigeria, at one of the mini-grid sites.
Over 9 million people in Nigeria are food insecure as a result of the neglect of domestic agricultural output, the pandemic, high pricing of staple foods, insufficient land availability, soil infertility, lack of access to financial facilities, storage and processing issues, and other causes. More than 80% of Nigerian farmers are smallholder farmers living in last-mile settlements, and they produce more than 90% of the country’s food. However, just 16% of these farmers have access to motorized equipment, and only 7% have credit.
Smallholder farmers are the backbone of Nigeria’s agriculture sector, and they deserve all the help they can get to produce more food, grow more raw materials for the agro-industrial sector, and help the country close its food supply gap, which costs the country $5 billion in food imports annually.
Farm Fuse will identify and propose solutions to the weak links in the agricultural value chain in the rural communities served by Havenhill’s mini-grids in order to increase local agricultural productivity. Farm Fuse will have access to at least 10,000 smallholder farmers across the rural communities served by Havenhill’s mini-grids. This would be accomplished by providing smallholder farmers with access to high-quality inputs (seeds, fertilizers), mechanization, technical assistance (advisory sessions on best practices and financial education), and markets.
“We have always considered electricity to be a means to an end. In this case, the ‘end’ is boosting smallholder farmers’ productivity and rural economies by developing sustainable agricultural value chains and business models that address their specific needs. The team is constantly working on innovating to also increase the purchasing power of our customers.” – says Olusegun Odunaiya, CEO, Havenhill Synergy Limited