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How a Nigerian fintech wants to secure 1 billion US dollars for farms

2023-06-06

Small farmers often have a hard time getting financing. An app in Nigeria wants to change that: Vetsark fintech has been up and running for five months. A conversation with its founder Blessing Mene about what his app offers - and about the opportunities and limitations of agricultural financing.

Vetsark fintech is looking to target 500,000 to a million farms, just enabling them access to money and being their key partner. © GIZ /Johannes Funk

By Blessing Mene

Blessing Mene is the founder of the Nigerian fintech company Vetsark. Growing up in a family of farmers, he has had an interest in agriculture and veterinary medicine since a young age.

All contributions

By Jan Rübel

Jan Rübel is author at Zeitenspiegel Reportagen, a columnist at Yahoo and writes for national newspapers and magazines. He studied History and Middle Eastern Studies.

All contributions

How important is agriculture for Nigeria?
The Nigerian economy is dependent on agriculture.

Agriculture is “it” for Africa. In terms of income generation at the grassroot-level, the most likely option still remains farming.

And how did you come up with the idea?
I grew up in a farming family and my dad is a farmer; even nowadays. My mom's also farming, and they have done that next to their own fulltime jobs since I was a child. Initially, my parents started working on the fields, because for livestock more than 80% of the costs will go to feed. So that’s how my interest in agriculture began to grow. I also have a background in chemistry and took some courses in veterinary medicine. But I am mainly passionate about solving problems from a systems change point of view. I did some work on mango seeds, water hyacinths and the black soldier fly – with Ashoka and USAID Nigeria support respectively. After that, I moved on to animal health: How can we digitize animal health? It is a major issue that livestock farmers face and leads them to lose their income. I did some work on that and eventually, our digital operation got adopted by the government. Having done that, I asked myself, okay, what's the next big thing? Financing farms is super important. That’s how I wound up in agri-financing.

Why is there a need to have farms fundraise money in Nigeria and why is it difficult to access finance in agriculture?
It is a problem that has been present for decades. One of the reasons why it's difficult to access loans is the question raised by banks and lenders “can I make enough profit from this and possibly fast?”. They want to invest in profitable ventures. Part of the economy is driven by petroleum. Hence, they would rather invest in, for example, crude oil, because the turnaround time is fast, with a big profit. Real estate is another money-spinning industry right now in this part of the world – so they feel like agriculture doesn't make a lot of business sense for them. The second reason would be that they've gotten their fingers burned. They've lost money invested in agriculture. Additionally, I think that there is a cultural issue here. The people feel that getting a loan or getting some form of financing from the government is part of eating the national cake. For them, this is more like grants or donations.

So there is a lack of convincing success stories for possible investors?

Even though a lot of resources have gone into financing agriculture from the World Bank to even the Central Bank of Nigeria, there's still a lot of darkness and opportunity within the sector.

And what are the barriers for farmers to access your app?
You have to be able to read and you have to have some form of digital access to use an app like ours. Thirdly, you need to be within the banking system or at least have some documentation that allows you to be registered in the system. And then number four would be awareness. By that I mean knowledge about the application and how they can benefit from it.

Is it easy for a smallholder farmer to get a bank account in Nigeria?
Getting a bank account might not be too hard, but operating it, that might be the challenge. A lot of the transactions are still cash based, hence, a lot of behaviour change is required. But adoption of technology has really improved over the last decade due to improved customer preferences, increased internet penetration and cheaper costs of smartphones.

And what does the app offer them?
Firstly, it offers them a bank account. Thereby it gives them digital identity, which means that they now are within the financial sector and that they're able to run their transactions. And number two would be that they can apply for a bank loan within the app or get access to the type of resources or inputs needed to get to operate their firm.

But the most important benefit would be being able to access the resources you need for your farm ten times faster than a bank would offer you.

Typically, if you want to get a loan from the bank directly, you have to fill out some forms, submit a business plan… just a lot of documentation. Also, you must probably have operated your bank account for like six months. One of our new customers told us it took him four years to access a loan from the Bank of Agriculture. I think the loan was about 5000 USD. We don't want that to happen. If you're within our system, you should be able to get it as soon as possible.

Right now, our goal is to get a loan within three, four weeks. Our top-level customers, they should be able to get it within 24 hours. We don't want them going through the struggle of trying to get money for their business.

Is the app already running?
We just got in a collaboration with one of the major Nigerian banks to integrate our backend with their own banking infrastructure three months ago. They've given us access to their backend so that we can issue their bank accounts to our customers. That integration was completed by late April.

Do farmers already take loans via the app?So far, we have been putting in place the processes and setting everything up offline, to check what works and what doesn't. We have a separate app called Cleva farm management available via cleva.org. We've been able to help over a number of farms and agribusinesses secure an average of $1500 per customer so far. We're looking to hopefully grow our numbers at over 50% month on month. So far, we've gotten 100% repayments of our money and of the resources we've provided to the farms. That's what we're looking to scale up with our app.

Do you get kind of a provision or a member fee?
We make a commission, in form of a flat fee, of the deals. If we get you, for example, a loan with the volume of 1000 or 2000 USD, we typically would make a commission of 5%.

What else do you offer apart from giving the farmer loans?
We think of it from four different angles.

They need to get the right inputs, the right species, the right quality so that the money doesn't go to waste due to wrong seeds.

The second part would be in terms of the production itself, like providing training, technical support to make sure that they're doing the right things for their farms and bridging the knowledge gap. Then the third would be around sales by access to markets and to make sure that once there is a harvest, the yields don't go to waste due to inability to sell or distribute.

And does that go hand in hand? So if you get a loan and are registered in the app, you also can access the other parts?
The application allows you to access the inputs. So typically, that will be within our own ecosystem: Our farmer is picking up inputs from our wholesaler partner, within the same community. And then selling it through the same community.

What is the situation like for women in agriculture? Do they have it even harder when it comes to accessing money?

It’s much worse for women. It's hard for them to even get into the business.

Then when you now talk about access to financing, it's worse because they need to go through a lot of obstacles. This week I had a meeting with the farm cooperatives. And among the leaders, there's only one woman – I had a meeting with seven people. I had an extensive conversation with her trying to understand the hardships her business is facing. And I think it's the same across the country.

Women don't show up, because they are being overshadowed by the men.

And can your app address this?
It's one of the pivotal areas we are trying to address.

And one of the ways we're addressing it specifically is to be very sensitive on the gender side, and intentionally providing a quota to the women.

For example, in an upcoming project of ours, only women are participating.

I know that encouraging women in agriculture would have an immense impact in the industry.

So that's one way we we're trying to address the problem of unequal gender representation in agriculture and believe that from there we can scale up to reaching more women over the next five years - at least up to 150,000 women.

What potential do you see for the app?
By 2030 we're looking to do about 1 billion USD in lending. And by 2035, about 15 billion USD. We want to be able to address between 5 to 10% of the demand in the continent. And we're looking to target 500,000 to a million farms, just enabling them access to money and being their key partner. But beyond the numbers, the biggest impact we see is solving the struggle of fundraising, as that affects small scale farms and producers over the whole continent.

What will agriculture in Nigeria look like in 30 years?

I think it's going to be better. I see more medium scale farms: A lot of the young people are going to agriculture.

Also, we're now having more literate farmers like GenZs, who are coming into the sector and are much more open to the use of technology. Therefore, I see more financing going into the sector.

Back to overview

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Circular Economy: From Innovation to Upscaling

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Interview with Sebastian Lesch (BMZ)

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Support for sustainable start-ups

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A World Resources Institute project

Video: 4 Questions to Claudia Makdristo

A video clip by Seedstars

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Turning many into one: CGIAR network restructures

A contribution by Jan Rübel

International agricultural research is responding to new challenges: Their advisory group is undergoing a fundamental reform process and unites knowledge, partnerships and physical assets into OneCGIAR.

What it takes now

A contribution by Heike Baumüller

Artificial intelligence, big data and blockchain are the hottest topics of our time. The digital transformation of the African agricultural sector is ready for take-off. What will it take for the future of technology to hit the ground running?

The digitised farmyard

An interactive graphic Jan Rübel

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Interview with Jehiel Oliver

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Africa's digital disruption

Graphics

What Africa is experiencing in the course of digitisation is a disruption. Here three steps are taken in one, there you remain. In any case, the changes are enormous and bring some surprises. A graphic walk.

Wanted: German investment in African agriculture

Interview with Stefan Liebing

Stefan Liebing is chairman of the Africa Association of German Business. The manager calls for a better structure of African farms. Jan Rübel asked him about small farmers, the opportunities for German start-ups and a new fund.

Sandisiwe Dlamini and the chilli pepper business

A portrait by Jan Rübel

By processing chilli peppers, Black Mamba wants to give something back to the rural population. In a short portrait, Sandisiwe Dlamini, Food Safety Officer, reveals how.

Mozambique: How informal workers find jobs through an app

A Contribution by Leonie March

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The Answer is Healthy Soil

A Conversation with Nina Mannheimer

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Coconuts, Digitalization and the Future

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From the perennial to the catwalk – banana silk as an alternative

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The textile industry contributes significantly to environmental pollution as it produces over 100 billion garments every year, resulting in huge CO2 emissions and water consumption. Fashion designer Paul Kadjo uses banana silk as an environmentally friendly alternative to make textile production more environmentally conscious and socially just.

The Idea of Coffee entirely made by Women

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Allan Mubiru was standing in front of a shelf in Kigali, Rwanda, and discovered a local type of coffee. He took it, tasted it and was thrilled. A story about a grocery shopping trip that became the beginning of a successful business idea.

The human finca

Interview with Marvin Antonio Garcia Otero

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Answers from the youth: "Leave or stay? That depends on it!"

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"Agriculture can become a job engine"

Interview with Reiner Klingholz

How can agriculture modernise Africa? And does the road to the cities really lead out of poverty? Dr. Reiner Klingholz from the Berlin Institute for Population and Development in conversation with Jan Rübel .

How much private investment is the agricultural sector able to bear?

By Pedro Morazán

Small farmers in developing countries must modernise their farming methods, but poorly understood reforms could exacerbate poverty instead of alleviating it.

Enough of being poor

By Marcellin Boguy

In western Africa a new middle class is emerging. Their consumer behaviour is determining the demand for products – home-produced and imported goods, on the internet or at the village market. The people of Ivory Coast in particular are looking to the future with optimism.

New campaign for women: "Poverty is sexist"

Interview with Stephan Exo-Kreischer

This is a benchmark for everybody: More rights for women are a very influencing solution in the struggle against extreme poverty and hunger worldwide, says Stephan Exo-Kreischer, Director of ONE Germany. The organisation specialises in political campaigning as a lever for sustainable change.

The Big Bang is possible

Interview with Joachim von Braun

Happy youngsters in rural areas, green development and the connection to the digital age – professor Joachim von Braun believes in this future sceneraio for Africa. For three decades the agricultural scienties has been researching how politics can create prosperty on the continent.

More than just a seat at the table

A contribution by Welthungerhilfe

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Story: In Blocked Chains We Trust

A contribution by Solomon King Benge

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An opportunity for the continent

A contribution by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Africa’s population is young and ready to take its destiny into its own hands. Agriculture offers amazing opportunities in this regard. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation wants to support the next generation in this way.

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From start to finish: a vision of interconnectivity

A contribution by Tanja Reith

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The Life of Their Dreams - What Children Want

Interview with Gnininkaboka Dabiré and Innocent Somé

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Visions in agriculture

Video by Frank Schultze and Jan Rübel

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An investment in Africa's future

A contritbution by Essa Chanie Mussa (University of Gondar)

Rural youth need viable livelihood opportunities to escape out of poverty and realize their aspirations. How could they be helped to fully unleash their potential? This is an aloud call that needs novel strategies among governments, policy makers, and international development partners and donors.

“They said: You can do it”

A contribution by Bread for the World

As President of the IABM cooperative in Muhanga, Alphonsine Mukankusi is not simply focused on the figures. She has learned how to deal with people and how to take on responsibility. At the same time, her work helps her to come to terms with the past

Read more “They said: You can do it”

A new attempt at Africa's industrialization?

A contribution by Helmut Asche

Afrika is about ready. There are promising approaches for a sustainable industrialization. However, the path poses challenges to the continent.

"Extreme is the new normal"

A report by Alexander Müller and Jes Weigelt (TMG)

As the climate changes, the population of Africa is growing and fertile land and jobs are becoming scarcer. New ways are currently leading to urbanisation of agriculture and a new mid-sized sector in the countryside

Small Farms, big money

A contribution by Agnes Kalibata

Agnes Kalibata, AGRA president since 2014 and former minister of agriculture and wildlife in Rwanda, is convinced that Africa's economy will only grow sustainably if small-scale agriculture is also seen as an opportunity.

How do you campaign “Food Systems”?

Interview with Paul Newnham, Director of the SDG 2 Advocacy Hub.

The UN Food Systems pre-Summit in Rome dealt with transforming the ways of our nutrition. How do you bring that to a broad public? Questions to Paul Newnham, the Director of the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 2 Advocacy Hub.

UNFSS Pre-Summit: What did it achieve?

Interview with Martina Fleckenstein (WWF), Michael Kühn (WHH) and Christel Weller-Molongua (GIZ)

After the summit means pre-summit: It was the first time that the United Nations held a summit on food systems. Martina Fleckenstein, Michael Kühn and Christel Weller-Molongua reviewed the situation in this joint interview.

How Can We Feed The World in Times of Climate Change?

A Contribution by Jan Grossarth

Genetically modified bacteria become edible proteins, cows graze on pasture, and no waste is produced in an industrial circular economy. Journalist Jan Grossarth sees a silver lining for the future of world nutrition

Youth Employment in Rural Areas

The world’s population keeps on growing; with this rise comes an increased need for food as well as productive employment opportunities. Offering young people in rural areas better employment prospects is one of the objectives of the sector project. The young population is the key to a modern and efficient agricultural economy.

A project of GIZ

German G7 Presidency – fighting hunger with all our might

A Contribution by Welthungerhilfe

In the run-up to the G7 summit, experts from politics and civil society discussed sustainable and more effective options for action by the G7 states to combat hunger.

‘Invite yourself’ – Farmers organisations as key stakeholders of food systems

A Contribution by Andreas-Hermes-Akademie

The Andreas Hermes Academy (AHA) discusses the transformation of food systems with 30 representatives of farmers organisations.

What does it take to truly shift the paradigm on food systems?

An Interview by GDPRD

Why are short- and long-term responses important to address current and future global crises? Sebastian Lesch, Head of the Agriculture Division at the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), provides answers to these and other questions in an interview with the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development (GDPRD) and explains how much Germany welcomes all donors pulling together and acting in concert.

Sustainable, feminist and socially just: The new Africa strategy of the BMZ

A contribution by Prof. Dr. Anna-Katharina Hornidge

In the video format "#99SecondsWith" of the German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS), Prof. Dr Anna - Katharina Hornidge talks about the new Africa-Strategy of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

Partners for change - Network meeting on transforming agricultural and food systems

A Contribution by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development

At the network meeting "Partners for change - Transformation to a food secure, resilient and sustainable future", almost 250 participants from over 20 countries came together to exchange experiences and ideas on the transformation of agricultural and food systems. The final product, joint recommendations to transform agricultural and food systems, can now be read online.

The common thread is the importance of collaboration

A contribution by Scaling Up Nutrition Movement

It takes the joint efforts of diverse actors to achieve a transformative impact on the global food system. Barbara Rehbinder, Scaling Up Nutrition Movement (SUN), discusses four people-centred principles to get closer to this goal.

Sowing change

A Contribution by Brot für die Welt

Roughly 800 million people suffer from hunger worldwide. Change is needed - for people and for the environment. Brot für die Welt reports on the starting points offered by everyone's ecological footprint and handprint.

Shu Wen Ng, the Clear-Sighted

An Interview with Shu Wen Ng

Shu Wen Ng is a health economist. She knows what is best suited to go on a plate. But how can this be achieved on a mass scale in countries with lower incomes? "The solutions to gett there already exist," she says, "but what is often missing is courageous leadership to implement them."

African countries decide to tackle soil health challenges

A Contribution by GIZ

At the Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit (AFSH), organized by the African Union (AU) and the Government of Kenya in May, the Nairobi Declaration was adopted. It aims to triple domestic production of organic and inorganic fertilizers by 2034 and to improve access and affordability for smallholder farmers. GIZ reviews the Summit.

Stick together and learn from each other

By Claudia Jordan

During the Women Leadership Programme in May 2024, around 20 women from African countries and Germany met again for a one-week workshop in Bavaria, Germany to become fit for leadership in their organisations. One topic that concerns the women across countries is climate change, but also violence against women and their discrimination in agriculture.

And a semicolon in the middle

A contribution by Jan Rübel

After a two-year break due to Corona, the doors of the International Green Week (IGW) in Berlin are opening again. From 20th to 29th January, visitors from all over the world can discover, marvel and taste the produce. But the event is not only feasting and fun. The BMZ stand asks questions about where food comes from & where it goes – and in the process becomes a crash test for many habits.

How farmers are facing the crisis

A contribution by GIZ

Russia's war against Ukraine and its impact on food, energy and fertiliser prices is worrying farmers all over the world. Young farmers, farmer organisations and politicians from Kenya, Chad and Ukraine tell their stories and what keeps them in agriculture.

Priscilla Impraim and her chocolate business

A contribution by Jan Rübel

Priscilla Impraim is one of the first women in Ghana to enter the chocolate business. Despite some hurdles, she founded the company Ab Ovo Confectionery Limited in 2006 with currently six permanent employees and 25 seasonal employees.

Five climate-friendly methods in agriculture

A Listicle for climate protection and adaptation

These five management practices can increase agricultural production and contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation.

Water may offer the only chance

Interview with Caroline Milow and Ramon Brentführer

Groundwater resources remain dormant in the soil of African regions. Where does it make sense to use them – and where does overexploitation of nature begin? Caroline Milow (GIZ) and Ramon Brentführer (BGR) talk about potentials in the future and lessons from the past.

“We want to overcome hunger and poverty”

An interview with Fernanda Machiaveli

After four years of the Bolsonaro administration, the new Brazilian government is trying to restart its engagement in agroecology, fighting deforestation in the Amazon and protecting indigenous communities and poor families from hunger. An interview with the Vice-minister for Rural Development and Family Farming, Fernanda Machiaveli.

“We have to focus on sustainability”

An interview with Karen Mapusua

Karen Mapusua, President of IFOAM Organics International Network, on the danger of the current fuel crises and inflation to loose track in sustainablity, why organic farmers should be heard and how the word “crisis” has a very different meaning where she lives in Fiji.

Governor's Day with Farmers – For more discussion with local actors

A contribution by William Onura and Larissa Stiem-Bhatia

In agriculture it is important to include political stakeholders in the discourse. To build the bridge between practical application and political action, the think tank TMG launched the Governor's Day with Farmers in Kakamega County, Kenya. Now it took place for the second time. But what are the goals and benefits of the Governor's Day?

From field to fan shop: how to increase supply

A contribution by Jan Rübel

Organic cotton is extremely popular – but farmers still find it difficult to change their conventional cultivation methods. A new project addresses this dilemma: Bundesliga football teams in Germany are promoting the switch to organic cotton in India. And thereby setting an example.

BMZ releases video on the transformation of agricultural and food systems

A contribution by GIZ

The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) has released a video on the transformation of agricultural and food systems. In the video, Federal Minister Svenja Schulze also speaks about the urgent need to combat global hunger and contribute to resilient agricultural and food systems.

The rush for green energy shouldn’t undermine rights of pastoralist communities

A contribution by Hussein Tadicha Wario

Africa’s drylands seem to be predestined for generating solar and wind power – especially given the current hype over green hydrogen. However, pastoral communities are often put at a disadvantage in this respect. Our author describes the arising conflicts and what successful coexistence of green energy projects and the communities could look like.

CompensACTION aims to reward farmers for climate performance

A Contribution of the Initiative

The CompensACTION Initiative for food security and a healthy planet, launched by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) in 2022, is gaining momentum. It aims to financially compensate smallholder farmers for their contribution to preserving ecosystems. Initial successes have been achieved in Ethiopia, Lesotho and Brazil.

The Agri-Food Map: An interactive map to explore sustainable agri-food systems

A Contribution by GIZ

The complex interrelationships of the sustainable transformation of agricultural and food systems are not always easy to understand - the Agri-Food Map, an interactive online app, makes the comprehensive relations accessible by providing a wide range of comprehensibly prepared information.

Climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies for the African livestock sector

A Contribution by ILRI and GIZ

The production of animal-source foods is becoming increasingly difficult due to the impact of climate change on the livestock sector in Africa. Though, Livestock make a crucial contribution to food security in Africa. Three papers by the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), GIZ, ILRI and World Bank analyze, how Africas future livestock sector can look like.

“It created hope. It created a life”

An interview with Ally-Raza Qureshi, WFP

Iraq suffered many years of war, sanctions and economic crises. However, Ally-Raza Qureshi from the World Food Programme in Iraq sees progress. But now the effects of climate change are becoming apparent in the country. What is to be done?

New Podcast – Out now!

A Podcast by Food4Transformation

In a world facing crises – from pandemics, armed conflicts, and climate change – how do we ensure everyone has enough food within planetary boundaries? A new podcast by Food4Transformation discover solutions talking to government officials, scientists, NGOs and farmers around the world.

Earth’s well, all’s well!

A Contribution by Fairtrade Germany

With the annual topic "Earth’s well, all’s well!", Fairtrade Germany is focusing on the concept of agroecology at all levels - and is thus taking the next step towards achieving greater global sustainability. At the Green Week trade fair, Fairtrade Germany will show how this can be achieved taking the cocoa supply chain as an example.

Blooming landscapes? Only with biodiversity!

A Contribution by Arne Loth

What do chocolate, carrots and tequila have in common? What sounds like the ingredients for an experimental cocktail are foods that would not exist without certain animal species. They are examples of how nature works for us every day, often behind the scenes.

Together for food security in Zambia

A Contribution by Claudia Jordan (GIZ)

The Agriculture and Food Security Cluster of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in Zambia shows how synergies among different projects and partner organisations can help people to eat healthier, diversified food. A delegation of the Bonn based Division of Agriculture and Rural Development learned this in a field visit in the Eastern Province of the Southern African country.

Climate Resilience in the Apple Value Chain

A Contribution by Puneet Bansal

In Himachal Pradesh, India, natural disasters are becoming more frequent and climatic conditions are changing – with negative consequences for apple production and farmers' livelihoods. Holistic and multidimensional innovation bundles are required for the entire value chain in order to make the food system more resilient in the future.

Reforming agricultural policies to sustainably transform food systems

A Contribution by IFPRI

Global food systems are confronted with multiple stresses. It is more urgent than ever to make them more resilient, healthier and more sustainable. A key tool in such a transformation is reforming agricultural policies and repurposing agricultural support, as discussed in an online seminar co-organised by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

A Call to Action against Desertification

A contribution by GIZ

Every second, worldwide, we lose valuable and healthy soil with the size of four football fields. This was only one of the many facts being presented to a wide audience in Bonn and worldwide via livestream at the World Desertification and Drought Day on 17th June 2024. This was the 30th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on Combatting Desertification (UNCCD), which was celebrated at the Bundeskunsthalle in Bonn.

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How a Nigerian fintech wants to secure 1 billion US dollars for farms

By Blessing Mene

By Jan Rübel

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