Tractors for Africa provides agriculture technology to West African farmers with a market-based approach. By providing quality mechanization services, seed, fertilizer, and agronomy advising on credit, we empower farmers to raise their income and standards of living.
Farm Yield Africa was born under a shade tree in El Haji’s cotton field in eastern Burkina Faso. El Haji shared with our founder, Mark York, that lack of tractor services delays planting, meaning that every year he risks having the rains stop before his crop is mature. He asked Mark to help him find a tractor.
Eight years later, we’ve answered El Haji’s question by offering tractor services, seed and fertilizer to farmers on credit. Like most paths through rural West Africa, ours has not always been straight. We started out as Tractors for Africa, and our model was providing farm equipment and training to Burkinabe farmer cooperatives nearly free of charge. In face of mounting violence in 2020, we moved operations to Ghana and piloted our own tractor services business. From day one, we have listened to farmers and found ways to provide what they ask for. Farmers asked if they could pay at harvest when they have more cash, so we began offering services on credit. Farmers asked if we could provide seed and fertilizer on credit as well, so we added those. Today, we serve nearly 2,000 farmers across northern Ghana, and those farmers are seeing income increases of more than 2X from working with us.
None of this would have been possible without dedicated volunteers and donors in the US investing in West Africa’s farmers, passionate farmers, mechanics, agronomists and agribusiness professionals in Ghana taking a chance on us, and our hardworking, Ghana-based team of 20 people strong working to serve farmers.
