ThriveAgric is a popular name in the Nigerian agritech space, and for good reasons. The company was founded in 2017 and has done a good job transforming agriculture through empowering smallholder farmers with tech-driven solutions.
ThriveAgric has climbed its way up to become an industry leader with its mission to ensure food security and build Africa’s largest network of profitable farmers. This article explores ThriveAgric, including the company’s background, progress, and its impact on Nigerian agriculture.
Company Background
ThriveAgric was founded in 2017 by Uka Eje (CEO) and Ayodeji Arikawe (CTO) to empower smallholder farmers and ensure food security across Africa. One of its mandates has been to address the chronic barriers that limit productivity in Africa’s agriculture. By 2025, ThriveAgric successfully expanded beyond Nigeria, establishing operations and forging partnerships in Ghana and Kenya.
The core of ThriveAgric’s business model is its proprietary Agriculture Operating System (AOS), a data-driven mobile platform packed with data on farmers and used by a network of 2000+ field agents. Through the AOS app, the field agents map and record farm data, monitor crop performance, coordinate the delivery of inputs, and facilitate post-harvest aggregation and off-take agreements.
This end-to-end digital backbone enables the company to underwrite and disburse input loans, offer index-based crop insurance, and link farmers directly to local and international buyers. ThriveAgric’s business model unites multiple stakeholders across the agricultural value chain to create an integrated ecosystem serving the farmer at its centre.
Since its inception, the company has deployed over USD 150 million in financing, supported the production of more than 200,000 tons of grains and the rearing of 4 million poultry birds, and onboarded about 500,000 farmers, according to reports.
Download the Ebook now
ThriveAgric is also backed by notable investors and awards, like Heifer International’s AYuTe Africa Challenge and the MIT Solve’s Financial Inclusion Challenge. The agritech giant has set ambitious growth targets: to reach 10 million smallholders with USD 500 million in credit by 2027, and to scale that to 20 million farmers and USD 1 billion in financing by 2050.
Their long-term vision, “to build an Africa that feeds herself and the world,” drives continued innovation in precision farming, climate-smart practices (including pilot carbon-sequestration tree‐planting alongside staple crops), and marketplace expansion into new geographies.
Founders and Leadership
Uka Eje, Co-Founder & CEO
Uka Eje brings to ThriveAgric a deep blend of agritech vision and operational experience. A Covenant University alumnus, he cut his teeth leading technology-for-development projects at Royal Impact Corp before co-founding ThriveAgric in 2017.
Under his stewardship, the company secured backing from Y Combinator in 2019 and has since raised tens of millions in equity and debt financing to serve hundreds of thousands of smallholders. Eje also champions innovation in climate-smart agriculture, most recently piloting intercropped fruit-tree programs to generate carbon credits alongside staple crops.
Ayodeji Arikawe, Co-Founder & CTO
With nearly a decade of software engineering and product leadership experience, Ayodeji “Ayo” Arikawe architects ThriveAgric’s technical backbone. A University of Lagos graduate and former Partner at Royal Impact, he has built and scaled the Agriculture Operating System (AOS) that powers every facet of ThriveAgric’s farmer network. Beyond platform development, Ayo leads efforts on advanced analytics, index-based insurance modelling, and integrations with financial and input-supply partners.
Broader Executive Team
- Oshone Anavhe, Vice President, Operations – Oversees field-agent deployment, logistics, and supply-chain partnerships.
- Seun Ojeikhodion, Financial Controller – Manages capital disbursement, risk assessment, and regulatory compliance.
- Favour Eze, Head, People & Culture – Drives ThriveAgric’s talent strategy, culture cultivation, and diversity, equity & inclusion initiatives across all markets.
Products and Services
1. Farmer Onboarding & Digital Profiling
- Comprehensive Data Capture: At enrollment, field agents gather farmer details—name, demographics, geolocation, farm boundaries (via GPS), and even biometric verification (facial recognition) to ensure data integrity.
- Community Cluster Formation: Farmers are organised into geo-clustered groups, each led by an elected “cluster leader.” This peer-to-peer structure streamlines communication, training events, and input distribution.
- KYC & Credit Assessment: Basic financial history is collected (e.g., past loan performance, existing assets) to build a dynamic credit score used for future financing decisions.
2. Farm Mapping & Soil Health Assessment
- Satellite & Drone Imagery: High-resolution imagery (where available) is overlaid with GPS field boundaries to accurately calculate farm size and plot shape.
- Soil Texture & Nutrient Profiling: Agents conduct on-site soil sampling, assessing pH, organic matter, and moisture retention to recommend optimal input blends and planting schedules.
- Water Resource Mapping: Proximity to irrigation sources, rainfall patterns, and drainage channels are logged to guide crop selection and planting density.
3. Input Financing & Distribution
- In-Kind Loans: Based on each farmer’s credit score and farm plan, ThriveAgric underwrites “loans” in the form of seeds, fertilisers, agrochemicals, and other crop protection products.
- Flexible Repayment: Repayment is structured as a harvest-deducted fee or cash repayment post-offtake, reducing pressure on farmers’ cash flows.
- Vendor Integration: Partnerships with certified agro-input suppliers guarantee product quality and timely delivery to cluster collection points.
4. Agronomic Advisory & Capacity Building
- Field Officer Assignments: Each cluster has a dedicated field officer who provides:
- Pre-season training on best agronomic practices
- In-season visits for pest/disease scouting, nutrient management, and irrigation advice
- Post-season debriefs to analyse yields, discuss lessons learned, and plan next cycles
- Pre-season training on best agronomic practices
- Digital Knowledge Hub: Through the AOS app, farmers access localised weather forecasts, SMS/voice-based tips in local languages, and tutorial videos on improved farming techniques.
5. Harvest Aggregation & Logistics
- Collection Materials Provision: ThriveAgric supplies mesh bags, tarps, and moisture-control sachets to maintain crop quality during transport.
- Centralised Collection Points: Strategically located aggregation centers reduce transport time and costs, ensuring fresh delivery to buyers or storage facilities.
- Fleet Coordination: AOS-powered logistics planning optimises truck routes, load balancing, and real-time tracking for transparency.
6. Digital Marketplace & Off-take Agreements
- Buyer Network: ThriveAgric has established contracts with local processors, exporters, and institutional buyers (e.g., food processors, feed mills), guaranteeing pre-negotiated prices and volumes.
- Dynamic Pricing Engine: Market price feeds are integrated into AOS to provide farmers with up-to-date price benchmarks, empowering them to make informed sales decisions.
7. Index-Based Crop Insurance & Risk Management
- Weather-Indexed Products: Parametric insurance policies trigger automatic payouts when weather sensors (rain gauges, satellite data) register yield-threatening events (drought, excessive rainfall).
- Loss Assessment & Claims: The digital platform streamlines claims processing. Farmers receive prompt notifications and payments without lengthy loss assessments.
8. Data Analytics & Insights Dashboard
- Performance Tracking: Individual and cluster-level dashboards display planting dates, input usage rates, pest/disease incidents, and yield forecasts.
- Predictive Modeling: Machine-learning algorithms analyse historical data to forecast optimal planting windows, fertiliser application schedules, and yield outcomes.
- Portfolio Risk Monitoring: Aggregated data enables ThriveAgric to monitor overall portfolio health, anticipate financing needs, and adjust underwriting criteria dynamically.
9. Climate-Smart & Sustainability Services
- Carbon Sequestration Pilots: Select clusters participate in intercropping trials with fast-growing trees (e.g., Moringa, Leucaena) to generate carbon credits while diversifying income streams.
- Regenerative Practices: Field officers train farmers on cover cropping, minimum tillage, and organic amendments to restore soil health and improve long-term productivity.
- Impact Reporting: Quarterly sustainability reports quantify greenhouse-gas reductions, water-use efficiency gains, and biodiversity improvements across participating farms.
Agriculture Operating System (AOS)
The AOS mobile app unifies all of these services, and it’s the data engine that:
- Empowers 2,000+ field agents to capture and sync data in real time
- Automates loan disbursement workflows and insurance triggers
- Integrates seamlessly with partner banks, insurers, and input suppliers
- Provides farmers with actionable insights and direct communication channels to the ThriveAgric team
Target Audience
1. Smallholder Farmers
ThriveAgric’s primary audience comprises smallholder farmers operating plots of 0.5–5 hectares across Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya. These farmers often lack access to affordable finance, quality inputs, and reliable market linkages. By design, the platform targets:
- Women Farmers: Recognising that women form up to 70% of the agricultural labor force in sub-Saharan Africa but face greater barriers to resources, ThriveAgric proactively onboards and supports women-led clusters with tailored financial products and training.
- Youth Entrepreneurs: Young agripreneurs (ages 18–35) eager to transition from subsistence farming to commercially viable operations are a key focus. Through digital tools, peer networks, and flexible credit, the platform helps younger farmers harness technology and scale their production.
- Emerging Cooperatives: Small cooperative groups that pool land, labour, or capital to achieve economies of scale. ThriveAgric’s cluster-leader model aligns naturally with cooperative structures, enabling collective credit access and shared agronomic support.
2. Agribusiness & Institutional Buyers
On the demand side, ThriveAgric engages:
- Processed-Food Manufacturers & Feed Mills: Seeking consistent, high-quality grain and oilseed supplies for industrial-scale processing.
- Exporters & Commodity Traders: Interested in traceable, sustainably produced crops, especially rice, maize, and soybean, for global markets.
- Institutional Buyers: Including government food-reserve agencies, NGOs, and development programmes that prioritise food-security interventions and value-chain strengthening.
3. Strategic Partners & Investors
ThriveAgric’s ecosystem extends beyond farmers and buyers to include:
- Financial Institutions & Insurers: Banks, microfinance institutions, and insurance underwriters collaborating on blended-finance schemes and innovative, indexed risk products.
- Input Suppliers & Logistics Providers: Seed, fertiliser, and agrochemical firms that leverage the platform for last-mile distribution; transport and storage operators optimising routes and compliance.
- Impact Investors & Development Agencies: Organisations focused on agricultural development, climate resilience, and inclusive growth, drawn by ThriveAgric’s demonstrated ROI in yield improvements, rural livelihoods, and sustainability metrics.
Conclusion
ThriveAgric has demonstrated how a thoughtfully integrated, technology‐enabled approach can revolutionise smallholder agriculture. As an exemplar of innovation and impact, ThriveAgric offers a compelling model for agritech ventures, cooperatives, and public-sector actors alike. The company shows that when farmers are placed at the center of an end-to-end ecosystem, sustainable growth, empowerment, and resilience naturally follow.
