Project detail - FARMERLINE HOLDINGS LIMITED

Who is our client

Farmerline is a Ghanaian Agri Tech company focused on providing smallholder farmers with quality inputs and market access through a network of local Agribusinesses. Their proposition is tailored to the Ghanian smallholder context and has a strong localized and educational component. They leverage their proprietary Mergdata farmer management platform to reach smallholder farmers in Ghana, while also providing this platform on a SaaS basis to corporates and developmental organizations active in the agricultural value chain. They’ve reached ~107k+ smallholders directly this year and digitized >1 mln smallholders through their partners since they have started.

Funding objective

An investment of USD 3 mln is contemplated from the FMO Ventures Program. This will allow Farmerline to further scale its operations, build a robust supply chain and expand the team.

Why we fund this project

The West African agricultural market is mostly made up of smallholder farmers, who lack access to inputs, knowledge and markets. Farmerline’s unique tech-enabled approach allows them to serve smallholders efficiently. By educating smallholders on best practices Farmerline both drives market demand and improves smallholder livelihoods.

Environmental and social rationale

E&S risk category B (medium) as the investment is expected to have limited environmental and social impacts which can be mitigated with well-known and available measures. Main E&S risks associated with Farmerline’s business activities are related to i) quality of the ESMS and organizational capacity, ii) OHS/emergency preparedness, iii) labour standards, iv) waste management/hazardous materials, and v) supply chain/3rd party contractor management. These risks trigger the IFC PS 1-4, while IFC PS 5-8 are not expected to be triggered. E&S risks/impacts will be managed by the company’s existing ESMS and the mitigation measures proposed in an E&S action plan developed by investors.