The Delaware private foundation provided flexible debt capital to Springboard, which helps more than 8,000 smallholder farmers in rural Nigeria gain market access and build sustainable incomes through its co-op model.
“Supporting Springboard offers the opportunity to provide truly catalytic capital to a deeply impact oriented organization on the precipice of real growth,” A to Z’s Alex Evangelides writes in a Medium post.
The company says that since 2013 it has helped 7,000 farmers more than triple their income, has created 100 farming jobs for rural women and young people and has also supported rural women in starting their own businesses. The company is led by Lawrence Afere and his wife Helen Afere.
Agrifood investing
Rural farmers produce most of Nigeria’s food, but “still live in abject poverty,” according to Evangelides.
Springbroad focuses on farmers producing three core products: cocoa, which it sells raw or processes into chocolate; plantains, which it fries into a snack chip; and edible cricket insects, which it uses to create protein-enhanced bread.
Springboard had previously relied on its largest cocoa buyer for working capital. The debt funding from A to Z will help Springboard buy cocoa when it needs it and repay the debt when it is sold, enabling Springboard to find more profitable more sales channels.
“More profits for Springboard means more income for their farmers!” Evangelides wrote.
