Nana Owusu-Achau, Chief Farmer at Agro Kings, is an experienced Business Development and Growth Strategist with a demonstrated portfolio of working in the real estate, investments, technology, agriculture, education, and sports industry. His educational background is in Business, Information Systems, and Engineering, and that experience has directly and indirectly impacted his journey. He is currently the Chief Farmer in an agricultural firm, Agro Kings. He started out in the real estate space with the role of designing and construction, as well as sales and marketing of residential properties, primarily.
Sometime in 2015-2016, Nana ventured into the agriculture space, starting out with cattle and a maize farm. However, those did not turn out well. In 2018, while running his real estate business, he successfully piloted a rice program with his co-founder, where they supported smallholder farmers to produce rice – and this sprang up his agricultural business, Agro Kings. Their smallholder farmer network has since grown, and they have acquired 10,000 acres for the development of a nucleus farm to augment their work with smallholder farmers. He absolutely loves everything they are currently involved in – solving a major problem on the continent and impacting lives across the value chain.
Below are highlights of the interview:
Tell us about Agro Kings Limited and its mission.
Agro Kings is an innovative enterprise premised on advancing human lives with a focus on farming, value-added agriculture, and technology to support global food security. In 2018, Agro Kings began its rice production on 3 hectares of land while providing financing and a ready market to its network of growing smallholder farmers. The company expanded its production to 100 hectares in 2020, all on rented land. In 2021, the company ventured into the production of rice on its 10,000-acre nucleus farm in Kasunya-Nyapienya, Ghana, having identified an opportunity to feed the future through rice farming space. Agro Kings operates across the value chain with an average of 5 tonnes of rice per hectare as against a 3-tonne per hectare national average. The company further adds value by processing and packaging rice produced under the brand ‘Nana’s Rice’ while handling last-mile distribution of the product both locally and to other countries. To augment production on its nucleus farm as it scales, Agro Kings still partners as an end-market for a local network of 300 smallholder farmers within its operating community, significantly increasing income earned by 40% and improving livelihood. The youth-led company has over 95% of its employees under 35 years old and over 60% of its management being female, with women assuming other key roles in general operations and farm management. Agro Kings envisions feeding the future through sustainable and innovative agriculture, empowering smallholder farmers, women, and youth through the creation of jobs, the provision of training and capital, and transforming local communities.
How did you initially get involved in the industry, and what motivated you to pursue a career in this field?
Agro Kings was founded after discovering the underutilization of Africa’s arable land, the abundance of resources on the continent, and the millions spent on importation of food annually. My initial dabbling in the agricultural sector was my attempt to get into the space to understand more, starting with cattle-rearing, maize, and then rice. Presently, we are working with about 300 smallholder farmers within the Nyapienya community, where our farmlands are located. The ecosystem allows us to fully maximize production across the farm. Currently, 95% of our staff are under 35, which stems from my fundamental belief in the youth of Africa, who represent the youngest population in the world, hence the need to create opportunities targeted at socio-economic impact through agriculture. We are continually innovating around the value chain and are expanding our product portfolio beyond our flagship product, “Nana’s Rice,” while penetrating newer markets. We are actively engaging in capacity-building and support programmes for youth to help shorten the barriers to entry in the agricultural sector.
How do you foster a culture of innovation and adaptability within your organization, considering the rapidly changing landscape of the business industry?
Core to our business is value addition and innovation, and this is evident across our business, from the unique names assigned to each team member to the structures we have put up and the products we are constantly introducing and improving. Case in point: we acquired our 10,000-acre farmland, which was located in a community without electricity. To make this habitable and workable, we constructed buildings from recyclable materials and powered them using solar energy. Furthermore, we constantly innovate around our agricultural produce. We have our flagship product, Nana’s Rice, in two variants. We have further added value to our rice grains and created a breakfast cereal. We have a line of other value-added products created from chili peppers and orange-fleshed sweet potatoes. To ensure that we constantly create room for innovation, we have a team dedicated to research and innovation. Beyond that, we create regular brainstorming sessions that bring the larger team together to share ideas on different matters.
How do you prioritize customer satisfaction and ensure that the company provides exceptional service to its clients?
At Agro Kings, we try to make our products and our team accessible through various channels. Our products are available online, on call, and through physical outlets. We also ensure that our team may be reached via phone, via our social media accounts, via email, and at our offices. We prioritize the delivery of quality products, and to ensure that we can address any issues customers may face with our products, we place batch numbers on our products to help us trace the field, date of harvesting, and other relevant data to help rectify any issues customers find.
What steps do you take to attract and retain top talent in the industry, and how do you encourage professional growth and development within your organization?
Talent acquisition and retention are two of the greatest headaches for a business. For us at Agro Kings, we recruit our talent in a few different ways, including referrals, collaborations with schools, opening up for internships, and scouting for talent at events. We are intentional about building capacity in our team, and we do so in diverse ways. One of these is building a culture of reading relevant books and resources. Additionally, we organise training programmes for our staff, support our staff in pursuing relevant courses, and also embark on study tours with other firms.
How do you address the increasing importance of digitalization and technology in the sector, and how does it influence the company’s operations and customer experience?
Digitalization and technology have evidently enhanced efficiency in the sector and in our operations. Digitalization and technology have improved our communication across communities and borders, helped us better manage our tasks, and helped us connect with our customers and the world more readily. Using technology, we are able to share our story with the world using various online tools. Our customers are also able to contact us and order products right from their phones. We are also able to use improved technologies to run and monitor our farms, detect issues, and address them. In addition, we have a website that allows customers to identify the closest retail outlet to them based on their current location using geolocation fencing technology. Furthermore, we have introduced a satellite farming model, allowing people interested in agriculture to monitor the progress of their respective fields remotely using an app and other online tools.
As Chief Farmer of the company, what is your overall vision for the company’s future and how do you plan to achieve it?
Matthew 5:16 – that our light will shine for all to see and bring glory to our Father; that in our own little way, we will bring hope to our employees, to the community we operate in, to our nation, and to the continent. To achieve this, we are creating a culture that imbibes and exudes excellence, humility, hard work, honesty, and a hunger to do and be more. We are intentional about learning from those who have gone before us, and we do not wait to have it all figured out; we move forward with the little we have.
What advice would you give to aspiring leaders or individuals looking to join the industry?
It is possible! The potential of the industry is huge, and there is enough room for us all. Dream big, start small, and work smart!
Please Visit: https://www.agrokings.io/
