Through a firm called Babban Gona, Kola Masha the MIT trained former technical assistant to an ex-agric minister is now the largest aggregator of maize in Nigeria.
The firm which currently works with 18,000 farmers in Katsina, Kaduna and Kano, has attracted a 20 percent equity investment from the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation for expansion, BusinessDay has gathered.
The investment which is aimed at improving farmers income will help Babban Gona upscale its number of smallholder farmers from 18,000 to 40,000 before the end of 2018 and boost the country’s local maize production.
“The investment from the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation has been instrumental in catalysing our investments and our growth and we expect this investment will enable us reach our target of 1 million farmers by 2025,” Masha, managing director, Babban Gona told BusinessDay.
“The investment is a key part that has enabled us to grow by six folds and also increase our number of farmers by six folds. We have been very fortunate to have a great partner like the Gates foundation with us,” Masha said.
According to Masha, the organisation is expected to produce over 100,000 metric tons of maize with the 40,000 farmers in 2018.
Masha did not disclose the worth of the equity investment by the foundation to BusinessDay.
Nigeria is Africa’s second largest maize producer after South Africa, churning out about 10.5 million metric tons per annum with a demand of 15 million metric tons, leaving a supply-demand gap of 4.5 million MT per annum, according to data from the Federal Ministry of Agriculture.
Maize is the leading cereal grown in Nigeria, closely followed by sorghum and rice.
Nigeria has seen its maize production declining in recent years owing to armyworm infestation and shifting of traditional maize farmers to the cultivation of other crops.
“It is a wonderful investment by the foundation as it would impact on farmers’ livelihoods,” Bello Abubakar Annur, national president, Maize Association of Nigeria said in response to questions.
“It will help boost the country’s production of maize as the investment will encourage farmers to produce more,” Annur said.
Annur called on other foundations and organisations to replicate what the Gates foundation is doing for maize farmers.
Maize crop serves as a key input in many manufacturing companies and the poultry industry.
The country’s maize industry is valued at $6 billion (N2.2 trillion), according to the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA).
JOSEPHINE OKOJIE
