Blessed Tree Planters (Crown Seeds)
Description
Blessed Tree planters and Agro Distributors trades as Crown Seeds and grows cereals and legumes to produce seed, grain, and by-products sold as raw materials for livestock feeds. The company sources other maize and beans from its 5,055 out growers. It is also involved in nursery establishment for tree and fruits seedlings for nutrition and forestry.
Market Opportunity/ Problem
Uganda is facing low productivity levels up to 0.04MT/H against the potential minimum yield of 1.3 MT/H of maize due to poor technologies especially poor quality seeds. Uganda in 2020 lost its premium maize market (to Kenya) due to poor post-harvest handling resulting in a drop of its exports by US$ 8M by January 2021. There is an increasing demand for improved quality seeds; Hybrid seeds sales increased by 97 %and OPV 81 % between 2015 and 2017. The sub-sector is also of critical importance to the government’s food security, s indicated by several incentives to encourage productivity and quality of output
Company Information
Years of operation
9
Type of organization
Private company
Stage of the business
Growth stage
Agribusiness focus
Value addition/processing
Agriculture value chain(s) focus?
Cash Crops
Primary country of operation
Uganda
Other country(ies) of operation
Kenya and South Sudan
How many employees does your business have?
45
Does the business have more than 30% women ownership?
Yes
Does the business have more than 30% youth ownership (under 35 years)?
Yes
Financing and expansion overview
How much capital is the company currently fundraising (US$)?
Above $1m
What is the split between equity and debt?
60% debt and 40% equity