When people talk about fixing Africa’s food system, the conversation often starts with what happens on the farm. For Nyifamu Ogechi Manzo, the bigger question is what happens after the harvest.
A farmer can produce a good harvest and still struggle to make a decent income if crops spoil, buyers are difficult to find or the farmer has to sell quickly at a poor price. It is this gap between production and profitability that Manzo has spent years working to address.
As founder and CEO of Farmatrix Agro Allied and Technology Company, she is building a digital agricultural ecosystem that connects smallholder farmers with markets, logistics, financing and climate-smart agricultural practices.
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From Seeing the Problem to Building Farmatrix
Manzo holds a BSc in Computer Science from Abia State University and an MBA from the Nigerian Defence Academy. Her career, however, took her beyond the traditional technology space and into agricultural communities, where she saw the realities facing smallholder farmers.
Post-harvest losses, limited access to markets, climate-related challenges and inadequate financing can make farming difficult to sustain, even when farmers have productive land and good harvests.
That experience led her to establish Farmatrix in 2019, combining her technology background with agribusiness to create practical solutions around the farmer.
Helping Farmers Get More From the Harvest
One of Farmatrix’s key ideas is that access to a market should not end when a farmer finishes harvesting.
Through its model, farmers can connect with buyers and logistics providers while also gaining access to financial services and training. Its approach to storage and financing also gives farmers more options around when to sell. Stored grain can be used as collateral for financing, allowing farmers to avoid being forced into immediate sales when prices are low.
That distinction matters. For a smallholder farmer, having more control over when and where to sell can affect whether a good harvest translates into a good business year.
Farmatrix now supports more than 8,000 smallholder farmers and has developed partnerships with organisations including Premier Tropicana Nigeria, Heifer International, TechnoServe and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa.
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Building for the Farmers Who Often Get Overlooked
Manzo’s work also places attention on women and young people in farming communities, groups that can face additional barriers to finance, markets and opportunities within the agricultural value chain.
Her goal extends beyond Nigeria. Farmatrix has stated an ambition to reach one million smallholder farmers across Africa by 2028, building on the network and partnerships it has developed so far.
The work has earned Manzo recognition across entrepreneurship, climate and leadership spaces. She is a Tony Elumelu Entrepreneur, a Climate Reality Leader, a World Economic Forum Global Shaper and a West Africa Acumen Fellow. She has also participated in international platforms including the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos and the Africa Food Systems Forum.
Why Her Work Matters
Manzo’s story shows that agricultural innovation does not always have to begin with a new machine or a complicated piece of technology. Sometimes, the real opportunity lies in connecting systems that farmers have long struggled to access separately.
Markets, storage, financing, training and climate-smart practices all influence what happens to a harvest after it leaves the field.
By bringing these pieces closer together, Manzo and Farmatrix are working towards a food system where smallholder farmers can have more information, more options and a stronger position in the agricultural value chain.
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