How Desmond Koney founded Complete Farmer, a crowdfarming platform in Ghana allowing anyone to become a farmer from the comfort of their home

_

In today’s episode, we speak to Desmond Koney, CEO and cofounder of Complete Farmer.

Complete Farmer is a crowdfarming platform founded and based in Ghana that makes it easier for industries to source for quality farm produce in the African market and at the same time, allows anyone to fund a farming cycle as a crowdfarmer from their smartphone, get regular updates about the farm, sign up for an in person farm visit and yes, also to participate in the profits from the farming cycle. When asked how he came up with the idea to start it, he shares that he was exposed to the frustrations of smallholder farming since his father was a smallholder farmer growing pineapples. 

After coming back home to Ghana from his studies in The Netherlands, he got the idea to apply his engineering skills to build more efficient farms on the continent. 

In the interview we chat about 

• How Desmond and his cofounders became farmers themselves in order to learn about farming and identifying the real pain points and bottlenecks that farmers in Ghana face every day
• The lessons that they learned from that experience, 
• How they financed the launch of their business
• and so much more

As of the date of the release of this podcast I am also farming with Complete Farmer. I have a few acres of sweet potato and chilli pepper under contract with them and am hoping for a good farming season. 

There is a ton of insights as well as inspiration in this interview for anyone interested in agriculture, tech entrepreneurship in Africa or just anyone curious about how to assure food security.

You can also check out the AfricaX blogpost about Desmond and Complete Farmer.

We really hope you will enjoy this episode, and now, enter Desmond. 

_______________________

YOU LIKE THE AFRICAX PROJECT?

Here is how you can learn more and support...:

👉🏾 Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/africaxproject/

👉🏾 Check out our Blog: https://www.africax.org/blog to listen to all of the episodes as a podcast and watch the videos

👉🏾 Donate and help us empower the next generation of young entrepreneurs and changemakers in Africa through https://www.yesfoundersfoundation.org with as little as 10 USD

👉🏾 Or last but not least GET THE AFRICAX BOOK HERE... and follow the epic adventure of Dulcie Mativo and Thomas Jakel as they travel the African continent overland with an electric motorbike, to interview over 100 inspiring changemakers in 20 countries, from Morocco and Mauritania to Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa and many more... Get access to the the charge map for the electric motorbike, the interviews with 100 changemakers, entrepreneurs and social innovators and our 10 'secrets' to travelling the African continent electric.

Here some of the 5 Star reviews of the book:

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Now this adventure and story telling is something else!!! I’m now in Ghana. Completely grateful for Abo as well. Liberia was the epic best disaster." - a reader

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "Such an amazing read. Probably the first book I’ve read in a year - since 2020 I’ve mostly been doing audio books ; but this is so worth it. It’s made me crave a good read again, thank you." - a reader

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ "A wild and captivating read that combines both a unique adventure as well as inspiring accounts about Africa's young leaders and social entrepreneurs. If you are into travel and inspiration, this book is for you. Thumbs up."