Have you always wanted to venture into agriculture; start a poultry farm, a piggery, a cow ranch, or better still plant crops, but you are always busy with one or two things and don’t think you can juggle between work and farm? What you may need are Agriculture Investment Platforms.
Don’t worry, there are a number of crowdfunding based agriculture investment platforms that makes it possible for you to own a farm without any manual labor on your part.
There are tons of Agricultural Investment Platforms that enable you to invest your hard earned money into agriculture and get a good interest rate alongside your capital after a set period of time.
The interesting thing is that most of the best agriculture investment platforms offer insurance cover for your capital to help reduce your loss if by chance anything goes wrong with the farm you invested your money into.
Don’t know exactly what agriculture investment platforms are?
Continue reading as I will be sharing with you in this blog post, what an agricultural investment platform is and the best Agriculture Investment Platforms to choose from.
Let’s get started.
Overview of Agricultural Investment Platforms?
Agriculture Investment Platforms are technology backed agricultural platforms that enable investors to easily find promising farms and agricultural companies in need of funding.
A simple way to see an agricultural investment platform is as the middle man. It connects the farmer and the investor together.
To investors, it is an opportunity to invest their money into agriculture and make profit; while to farmers it is an opportunity to receive funds for their farms and also take their farm to the next level.
Some of these agricultural investment platforms have insurance cover for the invested capital, some focus on a part of agriculture like piggery while some focus on poultry and only a few focus on more than one farm animals.
Let get to details of the different agricultural investment platforms we have.
1. FarmCrowdy (Crowdyvest)
FarmCrowdy (now called Crowdyvest) is one of the best agriculture investment platforms in Africa and Nigeria in particular. Farm Crowdy was founded in November 2016. On its own, the plamform offers one of the best investment apps around.
It offers a simple process to make it easy for farmers to receive sponsorship from investors interested in their farm through crowdfunding.
FarmCrowdy offers two integration processes for both the farmers and the investors. For farmers, Farmcrowdy selects crops to be cultivated according to seasons alongside with the land selection.
Crowdyvest then reaches out to farmers through the farm association in a community in order to choose based on recommendations.
They also provide farm inputs for selected farmers to farm and they also provide buyers for the farmers to make everything easy.
While for the Investors, they register on any of the Crowdyvest platforms, select the farm they are willing to sponsor, release the fund and then track the progress of the farm by viewing sent text, pictures and videos of the farm.
Key Features
Farmers
- Offers a mobile app for both Android and iOS operating system
- Provides expert advice to farmers
- Source out buyers for farm produce
- Allows both crop farming and animals farming
- Does not deal with Individual farmers, it picks based on recommendations from farmers association in a local government or community.
Investors
- Flexible payment options for Investors
- Farm cycle runs from a period of 5 months to 12 months
- Farmcrowdy offers an investment cover for Sponsors which enables them to get their initial investment in cases when unforeseen circumstances occur to the farm.
- Offers a calculator that enable you to calculate your profit
2. Thrive Agric
Thrive Agric is one of the best agriculture investment platforms for anyone interested in investing in agriculture. The platform did not just come around, it has been in existence since 2016.
Thrive Agric offers a good user interface for investors both on Android app and iOS app.
And what differentiate Thrive Agric from most of the other agric tech companies is their farmer-centric attitude.
Key Features
- Offers a good user-interface on the webapp
- Offers a mobile app for both Android app and iOS app.
- The minimum amount you can invest is the same as the subscription fee for each farm
- Thrive Agric offers flexible payment option (bank, USSD, bank transfer, banking apps)
- Payments of capital investment plus interest is done at the end of the farming cycle which varies depending on the farm.
- Updates of farm produce are sent to investors every month
- Investors are allowed to visit the farm only after giving a week notice of their coming
- Thrive Agric Insures investors capital with leadway, so if there are any cases of damages or whatsoever; your funds will surely return back to you
3. Payfarmer
Payfarmer is a crowdfunding platform that allows an individual to list their farm and seek for sponsorship from investors with the interest rate stated on the listing.
It is more of a listing site for farmers to seek investment unlike Farmcrowdy that is more sophisticated.
Payfarmer has an online application form for farmers to list their farms for sponsorship. PayFarmer is an online marketplace that connects farmers and investors together. It does not offer any expert advice or assistance to farmers in any way. All it does is to help them get financial assistance.
Key Features
Farmers
- Accept applications from Individual farmers
- Offers sponsorship for different categories of farms like poultry farms, crop farms, etc.
- Does not offer expert advice or assistance
- Does not provide buyers for farm’s produce
- It is only a tool for connecting farmers to investors
Investors
- Offers insurance over investment to allow you to receive a refund of your capital
- There is no limit to the amount of farms you can support
- Applications are done on the website
- Does not offer mobile app
4. PorkVest
PorkVest is an Agric tech platform that focuses on pig farming unlike some agriculture crowdfunding tech companies that target all types of Agric investment.
The platform focuses on empowering African pig farmers while enabling agro partners and investors to earn a profit from their capital investment.
PorkVest farmers do the rearing, breeding and feeding of the pigs to maturity and are also in charge of processing the pig and selling it to wholesalers, retailers and consumers. Your own role is to sponsor the farm.
Unlike other Agric tech platforms that do not have a fixed waiting period before cashing out your profit and capital, PorkVest has a fixed farming cycle of 9 months.
PorkVest offers a more premium investment plans, the least starts from ₦65,000 naira.
Below are the funding plans
Basic Plan (₦65,000)
- 20% interest rate
- 2 (three month old pigs)
- construction of the pens
- feed till maturation
- vaccination
Premium Plan (₦100,000)
- 22% return on investment
- 4 (three month old pigs)
- Construction of the pens
- Including the rest of the features in the basic plan
Pro Plan (₦250,000)
- 25% return on investment
- 10 (three month old pigs)
- Including the other features in the premium plan
Key Features
- Offers a farming cycle of 9 months
- Offers three funding plans for investors
- Funds are secured with Leadway (so you are in safe hands)
- The minimum funding amount is 65, 000 Naira
- The interest rate depends on the funding plan but starts from 20% interest rate.
- Does not have a mobile app
For details about investing in PorkVest, visit the website.
5. FarmFunds Africa
Farmsfunds Africa is an Agric tech platform that empowers African farmers while making it possible for their investors to make profit while funding a farm.
It also offers a premium funding amount. The minimum funding amount is 40,000 Naira and also goes up to 1 million Naira.
It is much more than a platform for investors to invest into agriculture, it is also a farm store for households to order fresh farm produce, foods from.
They sell some of their produce off the platform to their customers willing to have fresh foods delivered to them monthly; more like a subscription model.
Key Features
- A farm unit price ranges from ₦40,000 – ₦1,000,000
- Offers flexible payment system (bank deposit, POS, bank transfer, )
- Farm visitation is done once a quarter
- Farming cycle / duration is 9 months
- Farm funds are secured with LeadWay and NAIC (Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Cooperation)
For more details, visit site
6. AgreCourse
This is another amazing agrictech platform that has proven to be very promising.
Agrecourse just like other agricultural investment platforms empowers farmers and also enable investors to profit from their capital investment.
Key Features
- Does not offer mobile apps
- The minimum amount you can invest depends on the farm
- AgreCourse has a age limit of 18 years and above
- The farming cycle depends on the farm
- The return on investment is not fixed but depends on the farm
- Regular visitations will be organized for farm sponsors alone
Visit the website for details.
7. PorkMoney
PorkMoney is one of the best agricultural investment platforms on the internet today. The platform focuses on connecting investors willing to sponsor pig farmers.
PorkMoney also reprocesses pork meat into sausage and bacon which they partner with distributors to boost sales. Here are some of the key features of PorkMoney
Key Features
- The minimum funding amount for sponsors is N250,000
- PorkMoney handles everything from rearing the pigs to processing
- PorkMoney consist of experts in farming
Note – PorkMoney is no longer accepting new sponsors or partners for now. You can sign up for their newsletter to know when the offer will be out again.
For more information about the crowdfunding platform, visit site.
8. Farmally
Farmally is an online crowdfunding agricultural investment platform that makes it easier for interested individual of the public space to invest into agriculture.
To farmally, investors can temporarily own a farm for a stipulated amount of time which is determined by the farming cycle and thereby earn a return on investment from the farm.
Farmally operate different types of farms and cultivate varieties of crops and rear animals.
Key Features
- The minimum of funds you can invest is N30,000
- Formally secures investors funds through Nigerian Agricultural Investment Corporation
- Funds are also protected by the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC)
- Formally offers a mobile app through which you can use the platform
9. FarmKart
FarmKart is one of the best crowdfunding agricultural platforms that helps investors to invest in agriculture.
The FarmKart farms located in Ogun state is managed by experts in all areas of farming which should be a peace of mind to investors scared of losing their money.
Key Features
- FarmKart specialize in poultry farming and fish farming
- Investment is not consistently opened. It closes whenever the slot is full
- FarmKart offers an insurance cover over your funding through LeadWay
- The minimum units you can invest in a farm cycle is 1 unit
- The duration of investment depends on the farm cycle which runs from 6 months to 12 months
You can read more about the platform by clicking here
10. FarmFunded
FarmFunded is an agritech platform with the aim of providing foods for the public with investors funds while still helping investors make a return off their investment.
It is providing a real, safe and sustainable platform for investors to grow their funds while enabling farmers to farm.
It is one of the best crowdfunding agricultural platform to consider as an investor Below are some of its key features.
Key Features
- Payments of initial capital alongside return on investment is done at the end of the farming cycle
- ROI varies from a minimum of 15% to 70% depending on the farm type and the farming cycle.
- Physical visitation is allowed to the farm upon giving a notice of 10 working days prior to the day of visit
- Initial capital investment of investors is insured in case of unforeseen damages
- FarmFunded does not have a mobile app
Click here to visit their site
11. SmartFarm
SmartFarm is a crowd-farming platform leveraging technology to improve food production and create wealth for their investors.
And they do this well. SmartFarm is owned by Ankora Global services. It offers fair returns to investors looking to increase their capital by some percentage.
Key Features
- Offers returns on investment ranging from 6% to 25%
- Has an available market to sell their farm produce to, so your funds is in safe hands
- SmartFarm offers insurance cover over initial capital investment in case of unforeseen circumstances
- Has a fully integrated website but lacks a mobile app
Click here to visit their site
Which is the Best Agriculture Investment Platform?
Great question! and good you asked.
The answer to this is not far-fetched. Your best agriculture investment platforms depend on your needs and on the platforms you feel most comfortable with.
And that being said, there are things that you need to consider to know which of the agricultural investment platform is best for you as an investor.
One of the most important thing is insurance.
Does the platform offer you insurance over your funds?
It is great that they offer good returns on investment. But that would be useless if your funds are stolen, or the farm is destroyed and you end up with nothing.
So to avoid this scenario, it is best that you choose an agricultural investment platform that offers capital insurance over your funds.
So that if worse comes, you can still be sure of getting your funds returned back to you.
Luckily for you, the platforms listed on this site have insurance for your capital.
Profit still Counts
The main purpose of investing is to make profit from your capital. So there is no need to shy away from the profit.
You need to look at the interest rate. How much does the platform promise you as profit on investment? Is the profit worth your investment?
You need to look into this too. It is far-better to go for a platform offering an interest rate of 25% on your investment rather than a platform offering 20% investment.; provided all other things are equal.
So you get the point?
Farming Cycle
This is another thing that you need to consider. How long do you have to wait to cash out from the platform.
A short farming cycle is better than a long farming cycle, because it helps reduce the risk and also helps you reinvest your funds if you are still interested in investing.
Farm Type
What type of farm does the agricultural investment platform support? Is it poultry farm? Or Pig farm?
Why would you care about this?
If you are investing in a farm, ensure that you invest in a farm that you have existing knowledge of.
If you have an idea of poultry farming, then its better you invest in a poultry farm rather than a pig farm which you have no idea.
This is to help you make a better choice of the platform you want to go for.
And by so doing, you will be able to mitigate the risk of investment.
The other way around this is to ensure you invest in a farm that has experts behind them.
Investing in a farm run by expert and learned farmers help you get the best of the deal.
Going Forward
Agricultural Investment Platforms are good ways of putting your funds to work while still going to work.
This is not a rhythm but another way to financial freedom. With the right choice, a good capital for a start; you can invest into agriculture through the above listed platforms.
Rather than a fixed deposit in a bank, another alternative could be agricultural investment platforms.
Your Turn
There you have it, my list of best Agriculture Investment Platforms with insurance cover for your funds.
Have you ever had any experience with any of these platforms? What was your experience like?