Africa experienced its first recession in 25 years in 2020, driving up to 40 million more people into extreme poverty. According to McKinsey, smallholder farmers now constitute more than 60% of Sub-Saharan Africa’s population, and agriculture accounts for around 23% of Sub-Saharan Africa’s GDP. This is to demonstrate agriculture’s immense socio-economic impact in Africa.
The agriculture sector is indeed operating successfully, but fostering more innovative solutions to improve productivity would result in a triple win: more output, a more stable climate, and much more empowered farmers, all of which would result in a financial boost for Africa. Hello Tractor has developed one such solution to the agriculture sector’s lack of mechanization.
How Does Hello Tractor Work?
Hello Tractor was founded on June 16, 2014, by Jehiel Oliver and Van Jones, and has since been at the leading edge of revolutionary technology that connects farmers with tractor owners, as well as enables individuals to invest in tractors as business assets, manage these assets, and connect more easily to farmers who require tractor services.
The ride-hailing app for tractors supplies a GPS monitoring device that is installed on a tractor, and tractor owners can subscribe to the software-as-a-service solution app to track and monitor their tractor’s operation, the operator’s performance, fuel consumption, and maintenance requirements.
On the platform, there is also a “marketplace” section where farmers can connect with tractor owners. Agents are recruited from the community and given a commission to sign up farmers and assist them. Tractor owners are often paid a deposit to mobilize their tractors, followed by the total payment after service is completed.
A new pay-as-you-go financing service was recently launched to reach out to more farmers by offering loans for tractor purchases that are easily repaid from revenue earned by leasing them to local farmers.
The company currently has over 3,000 tractors and combines on its platform and operates in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and eight other countries on the continent.
