The technology-enabled service provider is set up to accelerate support for small scale farmers.

Farmerline develops solutions to create access to all players in the agricultural value chain, combining local and global industry stakeholder partnerships, well-trained field agents, farm resources, logistics and award-winning digital tools.

The operations in Cote d’Ivoire focus on deepening partnerships across West Africa, while Ivorian farmers will benefit from access to high-quality fertilisers and seeds, connections to international markets, and free education on climate-smart farming practices via an SMS shortcode (1349) similar to the emergency helpline (911).

Farmerline was launched by its co-Founders, Alloysius Attah and Emmanuel Owusu Addai, a decade ago to deliver daily voice and SMS agronomic messages to 800 farmers in the Ashanti Region in local dialect through the company’s technology platform Mergdata.

Since 2013, it has collaborated with over 3,000 strategic partners across 48 countries, including government institutions, local agribusinesses, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and food companies who have licensed Mergdata to support and improve the lives of 1.7 million small-scale farmers to date.

Strategic expansion

To Mr Attah, the expansion is strategic as "Cote d’Ivoire is home to over three million smallholder farmers, and Abidjan is the centre of the francophone Africa region.

"We've worked with partners who have been using our technology in Cote d’Ivoire for the past six years,” he explained.

“The time has come to expand and fully commit to helping Ivorian agribusinesses to drive forward the farmer and agribusiness digitisation agenda, including creating and distributing localised agronomic and farm services, to support as many farmers in the country as possible.”

Mr Attah said Farmerline was very excited about the opportunities in Cote d’Ivoire, and that partnerships would be key to realising the possibilities.

"We don't see this as a winner takes all approach or a zero-sum game. We will continue collaborating with local agribusinesses, farm cooperatives, our existing partners, government and food trading companies aligned with our mission to create lasting profit for small scale farmers and promote sustainable agriculture in the country," he said.

Last year, Farmerline announced a pre-series A investment raise of $14.4 million, and grew their team across the West African locality.

The company’s new Regional Manager of Francophone Africa who also doubles as the Country Manager of Cote d’Ivoire, Joel Amani Kouame, said "our team are excited to bring our solutions to Cote d’Ivoire, and we look forward to serving the farmers in this region".

African economies

Agriculture, he said, remained the core of African economies, and by bringing big data management technologies and predictive analytics into farming, alongside providing quality inputs in a timely manner, agronomic support and a marketplace for smallholders, the sector could become more efficient.

"We believe our approach to agriculture can create lasting benefits for small scale farmers and help drive economic growth in the region," he said.

The launch attracted more than 100 industry stakeholders, including the Ambassador of the Netherlands to Cote d’Ivoire, Mme Yvette Daoud, while some of the company's existing and forthcoming local partners — including Beyond Beans, TechnoServe, Bayer and Locagri — showcased what they were bringing on board.

"The rural sector in Cote d’Ivoire has grown in recent years, thanks in part to the sophistication of cooperatives and the greater role they play in farming communities," said the Country Director for TechnoServe in Cote d'Ivoire, Fayelle Ouane.

"We're thrilled to partner with Farmerline to bring innovative solutions and improved opportunities to farmers in the country.

With our combined expertise and innovation, we look forward to reaching close to a million farmers across different regions over the next few years," he said.