Business

Problem

Cameroon relies heavily on rice imports despite significant domestic production potential. Smallholder farmers face low productivity, limited access to quality inputs and markets, while fragmented processing and inefficient value chains constrain local production and food security.

Solution

Agri-Invest operates an integrated climate-smart rice value chain: quality inputs and technical assistance for contracted smallholders, aggregation, and processing with modern milling technology. Sales through B2B offtake frameworks and branded retail (YELDA) increase farmer incomes, improve availability of quality local rice, and reduce import dependence.

Impact

Agri-Invest equips contracted farmers with quality, drought-tolerant rice seed and promotes regenerative practices that build healthier soils with better water retention, alongside water-saving Alternate Wetting and Drying (AWD) irrigation for paddy fields. As a result, its farmers have achieved 79% higher yields on average and suffered only half the drought-related losses as neighboring independent smallholders. Beyond strengthening climate resilience, these practices, particularly AWD, curb methane and other greenhouse gas emissions. Agri-Invest's approach delivers a tenfold increase in rice-related net income of contracted smallholders while advancing rice self sufficiency in Cameroon.