Nigeria’s agricultural sector remains one of its most vital economic drivers. Today, it accounts for roughly 24 per cent of GDP, underlining how important farming is to the country’s economy.
For many smallholder farmers, cash remains king. Payments are informal, often delayed, and usually disconnected from formal financial infrastructures. That reality is beginning to shift. Fintech innovations are slowly digitising how farmers get paid, how they access credit, and how they build financial identities recognised by lenders.
A survey of 1,374 farmers conducted by research firm 60 Decibels across the 2023 and 2024 farming seasons shows how slow the digital transition has been.
Yet, only 35 per cent of farmers were aware of any digital agricultural service. Two in five had used at least one such service in the past, but only 5 per cent had used it for financial transactions such as registering activities, paying digitally or receiving money.
Awareness of digital credit stood at 20 per cent, and insurance awareness was in the single digits. Even among farmers who were aware of these products, understanding was thin, and many depended on hearsay rather than direct experience.
Barriers to Digital Adoption
The gap between awareness and use reflects deeper structural issues:
- •Network coverage remains inconsistent across rural communities.
- •The cost of smartphones and data limits who can access advanced platforms.
- •Many farmers also prefer to avoid new systems that feel complex or impersonal.
In the same study, 64 per cent of farmers who used digital services interacted through basic mobile calls, not through apps or agent-assisted channels. This limits what they can do, but it also shows how important simple, low-bandwidth tools remain.
Impact of Digital Transactions on Value Chains
Even with low adoption, finance experts say the presence of digital payment options is already reshaping parts of the value chain. Digital transactions generate records that can be used to assess creditworthiness.
A farmer who once operated entirely in cash can now show payment history, input purchases and sales receipts. These signals matter to lenders in a sector where traditional collateral is difficult to secure.
Fintech Interventions in Agricultural Practice
Now, some companies are designing financial and operational systems that fit rural realities. Their platforms connect farmers to input suppliers, buyers, extension agents and financial institutions.
For instance, Crop2Cash has been one of the most aggressive in building digital rails for rural communities. The company says it has supported more than 500,000 farmers across 13 states. Its CashCard, a simple payment tool, allows farmers to receive digital payments, store value and build transaction histories.
The project reportedly attracted support from the GSMA, which reported in 2025 that over 80,000 farmers use Crop2Cash’s USSD channel for input financing, advisory services and weather information. It also reportedly facilitated 2.8 million dollars in credit to smallholders.
Similarly, ThriveAgric reported a similar impact. In its 2023 impact story, the organisation stated that it disbursed 40 million dollars in loans to more than 273,000 farmers. It worked across multiple value chains and supported the delivery of more than 2.3 million metric tonnes of grain.
Much of this was made possible through digital payout systems, digital farm records, and structured offtake agreements managed through its platform.
Another startup, AgroMall, one of the earliest agritech firms to scale nationally, has built a digital ecosystem connecting farmers to markets and data-driven services. The company reported having more than 530,000 registered farmers in earlier reports and continues to expand its digital marketplace and mobile engagement tools.
These platforms give farmers price information, access to buyers and opportunities to aggregate demand for inputs. While full-scale digital trading remains limited, it allows more structured visibility than the informal channels farmers rely on.
Ongoing Challenges and Future Outlook
Beyond private players, national economic trends are creating conditions that favour more digital participation. Agriculture grew by 1.76 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2024 and contributed 25.59 per cent to GDP, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
However, the digital shift is far from complete.
The study found that although 65 per cent of farmers sell their produce, only 4 per cent use digital tools to find buyers or negotiate prices. Many still travel to markets physically or sell to middlemen who set terms unilaterally.
Farmers also mentioned frequent network failures, platform fees and distrust of digital disputes as reasons for sticking with cash.
For female farmers, the barriers are even higher. Studies by GSMA show that nearly 60 per cent of rural women do not use mobile internet, limiting their ability to participate in emerging digital services.
These constraints show that infrastructure, literacy and affordability remain the core challenges to scaling digital finance in agriculture. Yet there is progress in places where fintech entities and agricultural organisations collaborate closely.
Some agribusinesses now use digital ledgers to document grain deliveries. Cooperative groups are adopting digital wallets for shared savings. Extension agents are introducing weather and advisory tools that run on USSD. Each small improvement builds trust in the system and reduces the friction of moving away from cash.