Social Enterprise Gives Nigeria’s Smallholder Farmers a Chance to Expand

Babban Gona which means ‘Great farm’ in Hausa language, spoken in West Africa, provides services such as loans, agribusiness training, and provision of storage facilities for subsistence farmers in rural communities. Founder of Babban Gona, Kola Masha says the enterprise was established in 2012 to promote agriculture and reduce the rate of unemployment in the country. Babban Gona, which specializes in supporting maize farming is present in six Nigerian states and has so far provided its 100,000 farmer members with different farming-related services to improve their business. One of the services offered is the provision of storage facilities for farmers during harvest season. Babban Gona also trains all its farmer members on some of the best farming techniques to improve their production of maize. The company has a large number of field who specialize in teaching water retention, soil analysis, seed planting, and sustainable farming. The social enterprise is funded by leading financial institutions and governments such as the Nigerian Sovereign Wealth Fund, the German government, the Entrepreneurial Development Bank, among others. Through the funding received, Babban Gona has been able to provide credit facilities for 55,000 farmers and aims to reach a million more by 2025.

SOURCE: CNN