The African Agriculture Fund’s Technical Assistance Facility launches A €230,000 Agrodealer Capacity Building Scheme in Madagascar
The Technical Assistance Facility (TAF) of the African Agriculture Fund (AAF) is pleased to announce the awarding of a project of €230,000 to Zariro Consulting (Pty) Ltd, for the implementation of an Agro-dealer Capacity Building Scheme in Madagascar. This 18-month project’s overall goal is to sustainably increase the yield and hence income of smallholder farmers in Madagascar. The expected outcome is an increased use of fertiliser in growing import-substituting or export oriented crops and this will be achieved by training and facilitating finance for the agro-dealers, training smallholder farmers through the agrodealers and connecting farming communities with limited agro-input access to agro-dealers. The project is being implemented in collaboration with Guanomad, a private company with its head office located in Antananarivo, Madagascar.
In 2013, the AAF SME Fund, a sub-fund of the AAF and managed by Databank Agrifund Manager Limited (DAFML), invested in Guanomad, which is primarily a producer of guanobased organic fertilizers. Guanomad has been in the business of producing organic fertilizers since 2005. The Company’s products are competitively priced relative to imported organic and inorganic fertilizers and thus it is well positioned to capture significant domestic market share. The Company’s products are also Ecocert certified, enabling it to export to the EU and the Americas.
The project aims to engage at least 100 of the 200 agro-dealers who are part of Guanomad’s nationwide distribution network. Interventions at the agro-dealer and farmer levels will aim to increase the volume of fertiliser sold to smallholder farmers by at least 25% on average. The project will also link at least 10 farmer communities with limited agro-input access to agro-dealers.
“Guanomad’s mission is to tackle food insecurity by encouraging agriculture and improving farmers’ access to agricultural inputs. Through this Technical Assistance Facility project, agro-dealers will be involved in selling Guanomad’s products to bring our fertiliser closer to the consumers. Thanks to TAF assistance, an export strategy and a sales & marketing project have also been implemented to expand Guanomad’s distribution network and strengthen our local marketing efforts”, says Erick Rajaonary, CEO of Guanomad.