by Amie Fletcher

Poverty alleviation in Africa is a pressing issue and many companies struggle to do it in a profitable manner, but Good Nature Agro is geared for this challenge.

Good Nature Agro is an established legume seed company founded with the objective to move Zambian smallholder farmers out of poverty and into the middle class. They believe that the future of agriculture in Africa is disaggregated, and smallholders are the most powerful producers to supply local, regional, and global markets. With their personalised, scalable techniques, they’ve enabled nearly 5 000 farmers to increase their income by 300% over four years.

Up to now Good Nature growers produce the following crops; cowpeas, soya beans, groundnuts, pigeon peas and beans. These crops have been expertly chosen to suit small-scale and commercial needs alike – increased tolerance to drought, producing high yields, and requiring little additional inputs – a cost effective farming option.

Good Nature Agro’s outgrowers succeed

This company identifies markets, starts businesses and brands or partnerships to supply these markets, such as Good Nature Seeds. They manage to challenge the commercial status quo of seed multiplication. They now contract 5 000 growers, who on average each uses half a hectare of Zambia’s agriculturally rich land in Eastern Province. They provide every Good Nature grower with the following key services to ensure success:

1. A guaranteed contract
2. Highly professional personal technical support from a local agent sharing revenue in the company
3. Affordable finance
4. A premium market made possible for the businesses they start.

You need a networking source

Good Nature Seed delivers the output of their grower’s efforts to farmers of the region to ensure all smallholders have access to quality, affordable seed. They are now launching a trading arm, Good Nature Source, to meet regional commodity needs, linking farmers, both inside and outside their network, to lucrative contract markets. Agribusiness and organisations are seeking a reliable supply of legumes and raw materials.

Good Nature Source invites you to submit your product needs as they are boldly moving to offer all farmers a guaranteed market. They are structured to listen to what you, their customer wants. They then work backwards to agree partnership financing and crop procurement which is then grown under contract by farmer groups in various locations in the country. Overseen by an expertly trained Good Nature Agro agronomist, training material is disseminated via a bespoke smartphone application, called Smallholdr.

Following a successful pilot programme in which they contracted third party financiers to assist established farmer groups to grow commodity soya beans, Good Nature Sources is excited to announce this new approach to supplying you with the quality inputs you need. They will be guided by your quantity, crop, variety and varying levels of processing, because uniform quality output is their priority.

Outgrowers

Adding legumes to your growers’ portfolio can be an excellent way to build loyalty that carries over to your main market, increase food security and grower stability, and potentially add an additional revenue stream. Even if you are focused on a crop outside their portfolio, with third-party financing, you can bring more benefits to your growers and your firm, without adding significant risk.

Farmer organisations

It’s time that you get a reliable partner who can connect you with viable markets and provide the support you need in one package. Good Nature invites established farmer groups to apply to become part of this new initiative. They are negotiating favourable terms with leading financial institutions to offer you a comprehensive financing package. This partnership would feature additional benefits for your members, improving financial literacy, saving and lending group enrolment, and agricultural training.

Partner organisations

No one organisation holds the capacity and expertise to meet this demand, so Good Nature is seeking partners who share this vision. If you are working with a group of growers and are driven to bring about deep impact through sustainable value chains, they want to talk.

Register your interest now; Good Nature will do the hard work. Simply get in touch via info@goodnatureagro.com and they will ask you for more details about your needs.