#CodeCashCrop a first-of- its-kind workshop and meetup held last week on Thursday, 1st March 2018 in Lagos where over 90 corporate entities and startups in the finance and technology sectors connected with agriculture entrepreneurs to co-create solutions that should boost the competitiveness of the agribusiness sector.

Hosted by AFEX Commodities Exchange, the only private commodities exchange in Nigeria, in partnership with Dalberg Advisors, NIRSAL and INTL FCStone, the event featured a panel conversation, practical breakout sessions and lots of networking opportunities. Delegates included executives from several local and international investors as well as thriving agribusiness entrepreneurs.

The Country Manager of AFEX Commodities Exchange, Ayodeji Balogun, said “AFEX has been a functional exchange for over four years and has created access to markets that boosted the incomes of over 40,000 farmers by up to 40% over the period. There is so much potential to do a lot more when all elements of the economic ecosystem are able to find valuable use cases in the agriculture value chain.”

Nneka Eze, Partner at Dalberg Advisors, said “Dalberg was pleased to partner with AFEX on #CodeCashCrop’. It was a unique opportunity for all stakeholders in the finance, technology and agriculture sectors to find a common ground and advance the nascent agri- fintech space in Nigeria forward. We look forward to continue bringing global best practices to Nigeria to ensure this sector continues to gain momentum.”

Mr Balogun adds that “the future of #CodeCashCrop is to continue to help participants get practical insights into developing for or investing in agriculture”. He says further that it “will also have the invaluable social impact of putting smallholder farmers, who form over 90% of the commodity exchange’s transactions and produce over 80% of our national food supply, in the spotlight as an addressable market segment.”

AFEX Commodities Exchange Limited (AFEX) enables the transition from production to transaction for agricultural commodities. The vision is to ensure food security and support smallholder farmers to increase their earning capacity as well as provide a more efficient price discovery system. AFEX is providing solutions to farmers’ challenges in aggregation, storage, financial inclusion as well as providing a ready market for both farmers and buyers to participate in, seamlessly and with trust embedded.

Since 2015, AFEX has reached 100, 000 farmers and aggregated over 100, 000 metric tonnes of grain. The Exchange is  increasing the bargaining power of farmers and creating access to new markets (e.g. industrial users) by operating warehouses in major trade hubs and crop production clusters in the North-West and North-Central while linking these communities to agronomic education, access to inputs & credit in addition to financial inclusion.