Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 8 November – Impact investor Goodwell Investments has joined forces with social impact investing cooperative Oikocredit and Global Partnerships/Eleos Social Venture Fund (GP SVF) to provide USD 8.5 million in equity to Zambian social enterprise Good Nature Agro (GNA).

Good Nature Agro currently supports about 30,000 southern African smallholder farmers in growing drought-resistant, early-maturing legume seed varieties, including beans, cowpeas, soyabeans and groundnuts. Its agritech-based business model encompasses access to inputs, input finance, smart and reduced fertiliser use, climate-smart training, and a guaranteed market for high-value produce, giving farmers a wealth of support to professionalise their businesses and establish a clear path out of poverty.

In line with Goodwell’s mission to support innovative African companies that are contributing to a more inclusive society, the organisation first invested in Good Nature Agro in 2020 via its uMunthu I fund. In the years since, GNA has continued to expand its ambitions and reach, consistently growing farmers’ productivity and incomes, as well as improving their access to finance. In addition, the company has recently opened a new factory in Lukasa.

To enable GNA’s next phase of growth, Goodwell co-led the company’s series B round, partnering with Oikocredit and GP SVF to raise a total of USD 8.5 million. With this new investor capital, GNA aims to grow its client base to 50,000 farmers by 2027. It will also deepen its engagement with its clients, improve its integration of whole farm income, develop new genetics to deliver greater yields and resilience, and innovate to keep its clients at the centre of agricultural supply chains.

Neo Maruatona Ratau, the Investment Director at Goodwell Investments, eagerly anticipates GNA’s future accomplishments, stating, “The remarkable growth GNA has experienced since our initial investment has been impressive. We have observed the company’s ability to deliver robust financial returns and make a significant social impact, all thanks to its farmer-centric business model, which effectively integrates smallholder farmers into the agricultural value chain. We are delighted to collaborate with investors Oikocredit and Global Partnerships to support GNA’s upcoming growth phase, which will be fueled by the convergence of digital and financial inclusion, along with strategic inorganic growth initiatives.”

Samuel Kibiri, Oikocredit’s Equity Officer for Africa, is equally enthusiastic about GNA’s potential for creating impact, saying, “Our new partnership with Good Nature Agro will enable Oikocredit to help more low-income African farmers improve their livelihoods through improved yields and access to markets. We’re delighted to be co-investing with like-minded investors in an innovative business with a clear mission to move farmers out of poverty.”

Finally, Jim Villanueva, Managing Director of GP SVF at Global Partnerships, is confident in GNA’s ability to continue to deliver remarkable results, saying, “We first invested in GNA during their seed round in 2018 and have witnessed the enterprise’s ability to adapt and scale its offering to enable farmers to increase and diversify their incomes, in the face of both climate change and gender inequality. We are proud of the results achieved to date and the opportunity to support GNA in this next chapter of growth and impact.”

Reflecting on the new investment, Carl Jensen, CEO of Good Nature Agro comments, “Good Nature has broken the boundaries of most agribusinesses by engaging the full value chain – connecting growers, aggregators, processors and consumers – and delivering exceptional service through a hybrid tech and ‘boots on the ground’ model. We very much welcome Oikocredit as a new investor, endorsing our approach and potential, and are equally grateful for the partnership and trust of our existing investors Goodwell and GP SVF who participated in this round.”

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Note to the editor

For additional information and interview request, please contact Liz Keel, Marketing Communications Manager at Goodwell Investments: liz@goodwell.nl

About Goodwell Investments

Goodwell Investments is a pioneering impact investment firm focused on inclusive growth in sectors providing basic goods and services and income generation opportunities to underserved communities in Africa and India. The firm provides early-stage equity to high growth, high impact businesses. With teams in Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and the Netherlands and a track record of over fifteen years, Goodwell demonstrates the ability to simultaneously deliver significant social impact and strong financial returns.

For more information, visit www.goodwell.com.

About Oikocredit

Social impact investor and worldwide cooperative Oikocredit has nearly five decades of experience funding organisations active in financial inclusion, agriculture and renewable energy. Oikocredit’s loans, equity investments and capacity building aim to enable people on low incomes in Africa, Asia and Latin America to improve their living standards sustainably. Oikocredit finances more than 500 partners, with total outstanding capital of € 981.1 million (at June 2023).

For more information, visit www.oikocredit.coop.

About Global Partnerships

Global Partnerships (GP) is an impact-first fund manager dedicated to expanding opportunity for people living in poverty. GP-affiliated funds invest in sustainable solutions that help people increase their incomes and improve their lives, with investments in economic livelihoods, education, energy, health, housing, water, and sanitation. Since inception, GP and its affiliated funds have deployed $740 million in impact investments to 194 partners, bringing meaningful impact to over 30 million lives in 33 countries.

For more information, visit https://globalpartnerships.org.

About Good Nature Agro

Founded in 2014, Good Nature Agro is a tech-enabled for-profit social enterprise that believes in farmer-centric impact and values personal, face-to-face relationships. It works to support southern African smallholders in low-income communities in growing and marketing high-quality legumes. Good Nature’s innovative business model seeks to answer small-scale farmers’ most pressing questions and enable them to produce the best seed and commodities, improve soil and land health, access the right inputs on loan, and find an assured market for their produce. Its clients’ incomes average three times what they traditionally earned growing maize as a monocrop, helping them better meet their households’ health, education, food and other needs.

For more information, visit https://goodnatureagro.com/.