Nigerian agri-tech startup UfarmX, which leverages blockchain technology to empower rural, unbanked and underserved smallholder farmers, has facilitated over US$6.8 million in agricultural commerce across Nigeria, Senegal, and Liberia, with further expansion into Kenya planned.
The UfarmX platform does various different things, connecting farmers to quality inputs, much of it on credit utilising a transparent blockchain ledger; allowing them access to markets post-harvest; and giving them the data they need to scale their operations.
Disrupt Africa reported in 2023 the startup had expanded to Senegal, and it is now also active in Liberia. Across those three markets, where Ufarmx works with over 17,000 credit-scored farmers and a growing network of vetted retail partners, it has facilitated over US$6.8 million in agricultural commerce. Its insured retailer channel is running a net default rate of 1.17 per cent, collateral-free, in a sector the continent’s banks price as untouchable. Alexander Zanders, CEO of UfarmX, told Disrupt Africa the startup had launched with direct lending to prove the model. “Farmers repaid, yields improved, revenues grew. But banks move too slowly to build a company around. So we built the retail model instead – local retailers extend credit to farmers using our data, without needing a bank in the loop at all,” he said.
This is simply phase one for UfarmX, with phase two arriving at the end of this year – a credit-scoring API that lets banks and financial institutions process agricultural loan applications directly on UfarmX’s underwriting, the way American lenders run decisions on Equifax or Experian. An expansion into Kenya, the company’s first East African market, is also planned for Q4. Ahead of the API launch, UfarmX is opening conversations with banks, DFIs, insurers, and input producers that want early access to the underwriting rail.
“African agriculture gets looked at through the lens of impact, when the opportunity for capitalisation is immense. This isn’t charity. It’s the largest credit market still sitting untouched,” said Zanders.