Agrovesto: Using Technology to Give Africa’s Farmers a Fair Shot
- Mandilakhe Somdle
- 2 days ago
- 3 min read
Growing up in Nigeria, Bayo Adewoye saw the same heartbreaking cycle repeat itself: farmers toiling in the fields, only to lose crops or sell them at giveaway prices. Years later, after earning his degree, a conversation with a farmer-turned-security guard drove the point home, in rural communities, lack of market access and financial support wasn’t just hurting farmers’ livelihoods, it was pushing them out of agriculture altogether.
That moment planted the seed for Agrovesto: a technology-driven platform connecting Africa’s smallholder farmers to profitable markets, financial services, and the tools they need to grow sustainably.
Agrovesto’s Reason For Existing
Over 80% of Africa’s food comes from smallholder farmers. Yet many are stuck in a cycle of low quality control, exploitation by middlemen, and inability to secure credit because they lack transaction records. The result is predictable, wasted harvests, low incomes, and in some cases, entire families abandoning farming.
Agrovesto tackles this head-on by:
Opening Profitable Markets – connecting farmers directly to buyers.
Enabling Access to Credit – creating transaction records farmers can leverage for financing.
Driving Sustainable Incomes – through better pricing, reduced losses, and expanded reach.
Starting Small, Thinking Big
Agrovesto’s journey began in the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic, not with a flashy app, but with a Google Form. Bayo and his team wanted to test demand before building the product, so they collected orders manually and accepted payments through a company account.
The surprise? Customers still came. Even without a fully-built platform, the value proposition resonated. That early validation pushed the team to invest their own money, around $5,000 over 18 months to build Agrovesto into a functioning platform.
“It taught us that trust comes first,” Bayo says. “People bought into the mission before they bought into the tech.”
Growth Through Grit
In a continent where infrastructure gaps and slow market adoption can sink startups, Agrovesto kept its approach lean. They bootstrapped, stayed close to their customers, and learned to adapt quickly.
When the “funding winter” hit, the team pivoted from being purely B2C to also serving B2B clients, opening new revenue streams and making the business more resilient.
That persistence paid off, the company secured a landmark partnership with an international organisation, allowing expansion into two additional Nigerian states.
Impact in Numbers and in Lives
Agrovesto’s impact is felt in three ways:
Economic – contributing to job creation and poverty reduction.
Food Security – improving access to quality food for more people.
Farmer Empowerment – giving smallholder farmers a sustainable way to grow their income and business.
Looking Ahead
The vision is ambitious: within five years, Agrovesto aims to operate in two more African countries and establish a presence in Europe, becoming an infrastructure engine for global trade from Africa.
In 2025, the startup is seeking $500,000 in pre-seed funding to strengthen its technology, expand strategically through partnerships, accelerate customer acquisition, and hire the talent needed for scale.
Advice from the Field
For other African entrepreneurs, Bayo’s advice is clear:
“Don’t build because others are doing it. First, deeply understand the problem you want to solve. Then, build with the right mindset, expect challenges, and see failure as a step forward, not a reason to quit.”
Agrovesto’s story is proof that with the right focus, even a simple Google Form can be the first step toward transforming an entire sector. Discover more from Agrovesto at agrovesto.com
Explore African startup stories at africarena.com
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