Goodwell Investments, in collaboration with social impact investors Oikocredit and Global Partnerships/Eleos Social Venture Fund (GP SVF), has injected USD 8.5 million in equity into Zambian social enterprise, Good Nature Agro (GNA). This investment is aimed at supporting GNA’s mission to empower approximately 30,000 smallholder farmers in southern Africa. GNA focuses on the cultivation of drought-resistant, early-maturing legume seed varieties such as beans, cowpeas, soybeans, and groundnuts. The company’s business model encompasses several vital components, including access to inputs, input finance, climate-smart training, and a guaranteed market for high-value produce. This comprehensive approach empowers farmers to professionalize their businesses and escape poverty. Additionally, GNA recently opened a new factory in Lukasa to expand its operations and impact.
Why The Investors Invested
Goodwell Investments, Oikocredit, and GP SVF invested in GNA for several compelling reasons. GNA aligns with Goodwell’s mission to support innovative African companies that contribute to a more inclusive society. Their initial investment in 2020 through the uMunthu I fund marked the beginning of a fruitful partnership. Over the years, GNA has consistently improved farmers’ productivity and incomes, further enhancing their access to finance. The company’s farmer-centric business model, which integrates smallholders into the agricultural value chain, has proven to deliver robust financial returns and significant social impact.
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Oikocredit also saw an opportunity to support low-income African farmers in improving their livelihoods by partnering with GNA. The company’s focus on delivering improved yields and access to markets resonated with Oikocredit’s mission to fund organizations active in financial inclusion and agriculture.
Global Partnerships/Eleos Social Venture Fund witnessed GNA’s adaptability and scalability since their seed round investment in 2018. GNA’s ability to help farmers increase and diversify their incomes in the face of challenges like climate change and gender inequality impressed GP SVF. They are proud of the results achieved thus far and look forward to supporting GNA’s continued growth and impact.
A Look At Good Nature Agro (GNA)
Good Nature Agro (GNA) was founded in 2014 as a tech-enabled for-profit social enterprise. The organization’s core belief is in farmer-centric impact and the value of personal, face-to-face relationships. GNA primarily operates in southern African low-income communities, assisting smallholders in growing and marketing high-quality legumes.
GNA’s innovative business model addresses small-scale farmers’ most critical needs, including improving soil and land health, accessing the right inputs on loan, and securing a guaranteed market for their produce. The result is that GNA’s clients achieve an average income three times higher than what they traditionally earned growing maize as a monocrop.
This income boost enables them to better meet their households’ health, education, food, and other needs. With the new infusion of USD 8.5 million from investors, GNA aims to expand its client base to 50,000 farmers by 2027, deepen its engagement with clients, develop new genetics for greater yields and resilience, and continue to innovate in agricultural supply chains.
The organization’s commitment to improving the lives of smallholder farmers through sustainable, inclusive, and innovative solutions makes it a compelling investment opportunity for impact investors like Goodwell Investments, Oikocredit, and GP SVF.
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert.
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard