Good Nature Agro is a for-profit social enterprise that helps small-scale African farmers reach the middle class by growing high-value legumes from premium markets. CEO and Co-Founder Carl Jensen, from a farming family in Northern Idaho, describes both farming and Good Nature’s business model as, “[y]ou start with a seed, plant it, nourish it.” Good Nature’s model is grounded on building this ecosystem of support from top to bottom.
Founded in 2014, Good Nature has reached many African countries and has provided accessible, profitable resources to local farmers. Good Nature works with farmers in rural Africa, aiming to raise these farmers from poverty to the middle class by providing them with legume seeds. Focusing more on legumes and less on maize has given Good Nature Agro the upper hand since legumes revitalize the minerals in the soil. Their business has earned farmers three times their initial incomes has allowed them access to health care, education, food, farm input, and household needs. Good Nature aims to reach 200,000 farmers in the coming years.
Good Nature Agro puts the farmers first by answering small-scale farmers' questions. First, they provide growers guaranteed secure sales contracts, which includes a floor price. If they do well each year, their contracts grow so that they can plant more. Next, each farmer receives high-quality personal training from a trainer in their community. Then, the farmers receive inputs and financing to make those inputs accessible. At the end of the year, they receive a premium price when they deliver a premium product. Good Nature Agro has reached 48,000 farmers in Zambia and continues to expand their company throughout all of Africa.
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