Since Aruwa’s last investment in December 2022, AgroEknor has achieved significant milestones, achieving rapid growth through strategic diversification and backward integration. The Company has completed its hibiscus flower processing chamber, making it one of only seven approved chambers in Nigeria. This development has significantly boosted AgroEknor’s export capacity and quality, allowing the Company to command higher prices for its products and increase its margins. Furthermore, AgroEknor’s Farmers Education and Empowerment Project (FEEP) has registered close to 3,000 smallholder farmers,with 11,000 more on the wait list, most of whom are women. The FEEP programme has doubled the yield per hectare for these farmers, providing AgroEknor with a competitive sourcing advantage which aligns perfectly with multiple UN SDG goals and Aruwa’s mandate of sustainable job creation and women’s empowerment.
AgroEknor has also launched YieldPro, an innovative, technology-driven operating system designed to sustainably increase farm yields for smallholder farmers. YieldPro provides a cloud-based directory for identity management and farm monitoring, offering end-to-end traceability for agricultural processes from cultivation to harvest. This technology not only ensures transparency and accountability but also helps farmers adopt sustainable practices, thereby minimizing soil degradation and enhancing overall productivity. In addition to its technological advancements, AgroEknor has entered into strategic partnerships for the manufacture and distribution of hibiscus concentrates to international markets such as the UK, USA, and UAE. which further adds to the much needed export of value-added products. This initiative underscores the Company’s strategic shift towards product diversification and value addition, positioning it as a leading player in the global super foods and wellness industry.
The global hibiscus market is expected to grow by 7.5% annually between 2021 and 2025 to $490 million, driven by a preference for a healthy lifestyle. Nigeria is increasingly important to the global supply chain of hibiscus and is growing faster than the global market due to the global preference for Nigeria’s healthier, non-GMO hibiscus varieties and the unmet demand in the market for non-GMO hibiscus. Global non-GMO demand is expected to grow by 12.5% per annum for the next four years, outstripping overall demand for hibiscus as consumers seek non-GMO wellness products.
The proceeds of this investment will enable AgroEknor to meet pent up demand, fulfil more export orders, improve its warehouse infrastructure, drive increased utilisation of their processing chamber, increase its investments in FEEP and drive further adoption of its technology product which ultimately improves the livelihood of small holder farmers in the northern part of the country of which most are women.