Acumen invests in Ghanaian agritech startup Wami Agro

Smallholder farmers are the backbone of Ghana’s agriculture. They make up 70% of the nation’s agricultural workforce, yet many face challenges such as entrenched poverty, limited access to credit, and unpredictable market conditions. Despite contributing significantly to Ghana’s food production, these farmers often lack the tools and resources necessary to succeed, leaving them vulnerable to economic and climate-related shocks. These obstacles hinder their productivity and income potential.

Enter Wami Agro, a Ghana-based agritech company dedicated to transforming the agricultural landscape in West Africa. The company provides a bundled package of tech-enabled solutions that increase incomes and improve quality of life and climate resilience for smallholder farmers. These solutions fall into three comprehensive services:

1. Wami Market: Through its truck fleet, Wami collects aggregated produce, transfers it to its warehouses, sorts and packs products, and provides outbound logistics to buyers. The “Pukpara” platform streamlines and improves these operations, providing smallholder farmers a fair price and guaranteed access to both domestic and international markets.
   
2. Wami Credit: A proprietary digital platform that includes credit scoring for Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLAs) to improve access to financing — facilitating access to seeds, fertilizers, and mechanical equipment on credit.
   
3. Wami Info: Capacity-building initiatives that empower farmers with knowledge, resources, and climate-resilient farming practices.

Since its inception, Wami Agro has built a network across six regions of Ghana of over 14,000 smallholder farmers — 55% of whom are women — who focus on crops such as rice, maize, soya, and sorghum. The company also collaborates with approximately 50 aggregators and producers and sells over 5,000 tons of grains.

Wami Agro will utilize Acumen’s investment to scale its operations, expand sourcing to neighboring countries such as Sierra Leone and Burkina Faso, and roll out its proprietary digital farm management platform, Pukpara. This support will enable the company to improve farmers’ yields and incomes by providing market access, credit facilities, and capacity building. Its target is to impact 100,000 farmers by 2027, helping them secure consistent incomes and improve productivity and climate resilience.

“This strategic investment from Acumen will enable us to expand our reach, enhance our technological capabilities, and continue to drive positive change in the food and agricultural industry in Ghana and beyond.”

Caleb Edwards, Founder of Wami Agro

Smallholder farmers in Ghana face significant challenges, including an average 44% lower yield compared to global standards. Through its comprehensive approach, Wami Agro has helped farmers increase yields by an average of 44% and boost incomes by 25-30% per planting season. This is life-changing for families that previously lived on less than $3.65 per day—an income level affecting 77% of Wami Agro’s farmers, far above the national average of 24%.

“Wami Agro represents the type of innovative, technology-driven enterprise that can fundamentally reshape agricultural ecosystems,” says Babatunde Usman, an investment manager on Acumen’s West Africa team. “Their commitment to smallholder farmers aligns perfectly with Acumen’s values, and we are excited to support their efforts to create sustainable agricultural impact at scale.”

The Trellis initiative is supported by the United Kingdom’s Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).