Inclusive Business Analysis: Wi-AGRI, Cote d'Ivoire

Wi-AGRI was established in 2021 and is working as a digital platform primarily into the cashew value chain for linking the various actors such as farmers, cashew pickers, processors, input providers, financial service providers to bring in transparency and efficiency.

Wi-AGRI is based out of Cote d'Ivoire which is the largest producer of raw cashew nuts in the world, producing close to 25% of the world's cashews. What is more surprising that hardly 15-20% of the cashew is processed within the country and rest is exported to countries such as Vietnam and India.

Wi-AGRI currently has close to 22,000 cashew farmers and 34 cooperatives onboarded to its platform (end of 2023).

This analysis was conducted by IDH along with inputs from CGAP to understand how Wi-AGRI’s business model can be adapted to achieve sustainable business outcomes and create value for its users (mainly farmers and cashew pickers). It also analyses the business case for Wi-AGRI to expand into other value chains; the role of field-agents in the delivery of its digital services and the role of strategic partners in enhancing the experience for its users.

They key findings and recommendations from the analysis were:

• Wi-AGRI's key audience includes quite a lot of women in the form of cashew producers and cashew pickers who find it challenging to access credit. Through Wi-AGRI’s collaboration with financial service providers to formalize cashew cooperatives (especially women’s cooperatives), the loan interest rates can be brought down to 15-16% per annum from the existing rate of 30-50% per annum from informal money lenders.

• Wi-AGRI can collect farmer-level data on cashew production volumes, land size, average expenses, and other crops being produced by their farmers. This data can be leveraged to monitor any increase in cashew yields due to Wi-AGRI’s interventions in the form of good agricultural practices (GAP) that are available on the company’s digital platform.

• Wi-AGRI is looking to expand into other value chains such as maize and cassava. Based on the analysis, it was found that cashew will contribute 1.5 to 2 times more financially to Wi-AGRI’s income than maize and cassava respectively at a farmer level. Based on this information, Wi-AGRI can create a detailed roadmap on achieving financial breakeven.

• Farmers’ income can be increased by investing lower cost capital (facilitated by Wi-AGRI) into yield-enhancing inputs at a lower price (again facilitated by Wi-AGRI) and offering higher farm-gate prices that will come with an enhancement in cashew quality which is mainly determined by its colour and size.

• Wi-AGRI needs to strengthen its existing field-agent network through incentives and strategic positioning with the aim of increasing farmers’ understanding of the platform and their transactions. Overtime, these transactions can be leveraged to segment the farmers and identify drivers for top-transacting farmers.