What began in 2013 as a small startup serving 800 growers in Ghana has now become a transformative force in African agriculture. Farmerline was launched with a bold objective to shift the narrative of farming from subsistence to sustainability and profitability. A decade later, the company’s impact spans 50 countries, reaching over 2.2 million farmers and influencing more than 2 million acres of farmland. And still, the journey is just beginning.
At its core, Farmerline believes that every smallholder farmer harbors a shared goal to secure a better future for their families by increasing food production and income. Farmerline’s role is to equip them with the tools and knowledge they need to thrive. Through a mix of agricultural inputs, practical training, and access to marketplaces, Farmerline supports growers in converting effort into earnings. Its digital ecosystem links farmers with vital resources such as fertilizers, quality seeds, financing options, and climate-smart advice, while also connecting them to local and global markets.
“Our mission is very simple; to create lasting profit for farmers and the way we do that is we leverage digital tools and partnership to make sure they get access to all the information they need to grow food in their native language,” CEO of Farmerline is Alloysius Attah said in an interview.
“We help them to also access financing so they can get access to fertilizer and seeds. We help them to also sell. At the back end of it all, we work with food companies and development partners like AGRA around the world to leverage technology to support farmers,” he added.
The company’s technological backbone, Mergdata, blends AI-powered insights, logistics services, and field-level data to provide tailored support to farmers and partners alike. Used by hundreds of organizations across the globe, this platform enhances everything from crop planning to traceability, offering solutions for agribusinesses, NGOs, development agencies, and government institutions working to uplift rural economies.
The company’s toll-free Farmer Helpline distributes real-time weather alerts, market rates, and farming advice in local dialects to farmers. This approach removes the barriers of distance and digital exclusion, helping farmers make better decisions that improve productivity, adapt to changing climates, and boost their earnings.
Some of them have reported an impressive 89% increases in yield, and over 200% growth in income per acre. Through partnerships with public and private sector actors, Farmerline helps bridge the gap between supply and demand, linking input suppliers with producers, and producers with large-scale buyers. It’s a full-circle model that benefits everyone in the value chain.
Mr. Attah says building strong partnerships is what has helped the firm grow. He’s particularly grateful to AGRA for the support provided over the years. “We engaged with AGRA around three or four projects. The first one was, I think the Financial Inclusion for Smallholder Farmers in Africa (FISFAP) Project, which was around financial inclusion for agriculture. Through that project, we got introduced to many agribusinesses across Ghana and also in the northern part of the country. We still work with them today. I’m very happy to report that,” he said.
“Then the Ghana Extension Systems Strengthening Project (GESSiP), which was an agricultural extension project using the village based model approach. We engaged with them as well. We inherited about 600,000 farmers from that project and we’ve leveraged that to grow our business to attract private capital and continue growing,” he said.
The Farmerline CEO says AGRA’s support was beyond capital. “What has been very helpful about working with AGRA beyond the capital is the strategic partnerships that come as a result of working with AGRA. Working with them, we’ve been able to learn how to work with governments across the continent. This is now a key strategic pillar for us,” he said.
“Another one also is working with other organizations, even our competitors in some form. They have a strong convening power. They have a way of disarming and bringing all of us together to collaborate towards a common mission, which is to create lasting profit for farmers,” he added.
“Through working with AGRA, some of us have learned and we say this mantra that the problem of agriculture requires a team sport. No one person can do it all by themselves. But it requires government to do their part. It requires development partners to do their part. It requires the actors that we have in Ghana and across the continent to collaborate in a real way towards serving the farmer in a way that is sustainable and self-sustaining in general,” Mr. Attah concluded.
Organizations like Farmerline deserve robust and sustained support to continue empowering farmers across the continent. Backing such initiatives will open the door for more farmers, especially young people, to build better livelihoods, drive rural prosperity, and help secure Africa’s food future. The time to invest in solutions that work for African farmers is now..
