Our Story
EZ Farming platform was launched in Q4 of 2018 as the 1st Farm Accelerator that helps local African farmers scale their businesses and find produce buyers
About Our Agricultural Company
FARM MANAGEMENT SERVICES
EZFarming helps African farmers and farm owners stay profitable and creative by providing scalable digital and technical solutions for commercial scaling of their farms.
We are the Accelerator for farmers and farm owners
We scale small farms (from <2 acres or <1000 animals) into commercial sizes fast
We offer farm commercialization services through (a) farm ownership and (b) Farm co-ownership.
OWN A FARM | JOIN A COOP TO CO-OWN A FARM | BUY PRODUCE
We connect smallholder farmers to inputs and produce buyers globally to empower them scale small farms into commercial sizes and equip the next generation of farmers. Since launching, EZ Farming has worked with several individual and corporate clients.
These farmers have provided 128 paid internships for unemployed youths. Money and buyers are not everything, we use data, industry knowledge and network to find the right farmers that have potential to go to scale and work with them to identify resources and expertise needed to scale their farms to a commercial size. EZ Farming provides a modern way for people to work with each other and succeed together in both financially and socially rewarding ways.
EZ Farming idea started on January 10th 2015 when our CEO (Adewale Oparinde, PhD) was just returning from an agricultural research work trip to two countries in Africa (Nigeria and Rwanda). On this faithful day, he received a request from about 20 unemployed youths from Africa asking him to help them find a job. This was the Aha Aha moment that gave birth to EZ Farming to empower smallholder farmers to scale their farms fast into commercial sizes and thus enhancing their capacities to provide employment opportunities for unemployed youth in Africa.
With his research background, Dr. Adewale didn’t jump right away into implementation without testing. He commenced a pilot research in 2016 on the concept with 300 smallholder farmers in Oyo State, Nigeria. Findings from this first pilot testing confirms that the best route for intervention into Africa agricultural value chain is to quickly scale more small farms into commercial sizes. Let’s create more commercial farmers!
EZ Farming marketplace is supported by leading agricultural research institutions, world renowned agricultural experts and leading owners & co-owners including 500 Startups in San Francisco, Young African Professionals in Washington DC, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture in Nigeria, Impacthub Lagos and Dr. Howarth Bouis, the 2016 World Food Prize Winner.
Making it easy for smallholder farmers to access inputs and unlock their potentials
150 million Smallholder Farmers in Africa
We are on a mission to help over 150 million smallholder farmers who operate 50 million small farms in Africa. They lose about 40% of their revenue when selling their produce to the few middlemen available, and who can not even access bank loans because the interest rates are crazy.
African Food Market is Projected to hit $1 Trillion by 2030
Lack of access to finance and market as well as broken value chain keep smallholder farmers on the continent locked away from expanding their farms. By providing access to capital, technology and expertise, we are empowering smallholder farmers to scale their farms fast into commercial sizes and produce more foods to ensure global food security. We are targeting the food deficit on the continent, which is a market of about $27 Billion annually.
Testimonials from our Sponsors
Testimonials from our standing sponsors
What We Do
Through robust partnerships with experienced key industry players (land and facility owners, commercial farmers, off-takers, international agencies and research institutions), EZ Farming connects actors and resources to enhance efficiency in the agricultural value chain. We use modern technology platforms to connect global buyers with local commercial farmers and groom the next generation of farmers.
- Empowering commercial farmers to provide jobs for unemployed youths
- Enhancing Africa’s capacity to scale in agriculture
- Enhancing food and nutrition security
- Promoting agricultural productivity
- Building a community of happy co-owners & farm owners
Make an Impact
EZFarming connects skilled farmers with buyers through modern trading mechanisms and equips the next generation of farmers
How we empower youth
Empowering the Youth
Why tackle youth unemployment through crowdfarming?
Youth employment impacts global food security and youth migration. Youth unemployment and underemployment are skyrocketing in Sub-Saharan Africa. 60% of Nigerians are unemployed, and of this group 90% are youths. About 48% of the youth in rural areas will migrate to cities for better opportunities. For those unable to find gainful employment, they are likely to engage in drugs, crime, slums and illegal migration.
- 60% of the world’s total uncultivated, arable land is located in Africa
- More than 60 percent of Sub-Saharan African population is below the age of 25
- About 11 million young Africans reach working age each year
A thriving agricultural and food sector presents a great avenue to utilize these land and human capital to address youth unemployment challenges in the continent.
How we empower youth
JOB CREATION
Empowering commercial farmers to create decent jobs for youth by enhancing their capacities to expand farm operations.
How we empower youth
INTERNSHIP/EXTERNSHIP PROGRAM
Commercial Farming Bootcamp and Internships for Youths
To make it easy for young people to get started in commercial farming, we build strategic partnerships across the value chain. We start by partnering with capacity building organizations such as the IITA Agripreneur, YPARD, FAYODE and other NGOs who recruit and train youths in agriculture.
EZ Farming then runs periodic commercial farming bootcamps across the country for the youth. Through the bootcamps, the youth are equipped with hands-on practical experience on commercial farming. The youth also have the opportunity to apply and participate in a six-month EZ Farming commercial farming internship program. This internship program is a mandatory requirement for upcoming commercial farmers.
Commercial farmers featured on the EZ Farming platform are required to:
- Participate in training the youth at EZ Farming Commercial Farming Bootcamp
- Participate in EZ Farming Commercial Farming Internship Program
- Provide jobs/internships for EZ Farming youth
After the completion of the internship program, the youth farmers have the option of exiting the program or continue to become ‘upcoming commercial farmers’ themselves under the mentorship of experienced commercial farmers. EZ Farming then provides the upcoming commercial farmer with access to financial capital and other resources necessary to produce scalable and efficient commercial farms.
Countries
An interactive map showing current and upcoming countries on a map of Africa.