―Aims to create the largest amount of carbon credits in Africa through “Degas Farmer Network” a network of over 15,000 farmers―
With a vision of “Changing People’s Lives, Dramatically”, Degas Ltd. (headquartered in Tokyo, CEO : Doga Makiura), a leading smallholder farmer-financing and digital transformation company in Sub-Saharan Africa (hereinafter “Africa”), today announced an additional funding of $8 Million and an expansion into the climate tech business.
Background and Purpose of the Fund Raise
United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change emphasised in its April 2022 report1that while reducing greenhouse gas emissions is absolutely critical, removing vast amounts of carbon is also essential to achieving the Paris Agreement goal (limiting global warming to 1.5°C).
Degas is therefore expanding into the climate tech business by absorbing carbon dioxide and generating carbon credits through Regenerative Agriculture and the application of biochar. We believe that this is the new venture that will take full advantage of our existing network of farmers, farmer database, farming practices, technology, and operational excellence that we have built over the past three years.
We see the climate crisis as a great opportunity, and we are expanding into climate tech business by absorbing carbon dioxide through African agriculture and farmers, who have vast amounts of farmland, and to contribute to the climate change mitigation while increasing farmers’ incomes through carbon financing.
About “Degas Farmer Network”
“Degas Farmer Network” is a network of over 15,000 smallholder farmers, based in Ghana.
Degas improves the productivity of farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa, where annual yield is 35%2 of the global average and increase their incomes by financing farmers with technology, providing a full rage of services including high quality agricultural inputs, agronomy, aggregation, storage and sales. The company produces the highest quality and largest amount of maize in the country and contributes to improving food self-sufficiency in the country and on the continent.
Ensuring Traceability with Technology
More than 60 full-time field agents at Degas collect and analyse farmers’ data through the in-house developed software, and based on Degas’ proprietary credit scoring algorithms, farmers are able to access agricultural inputs regardless of their income level or living environment, enabling them to enjoy services that dramatically improves their income and quality of life (QoL).
In addition, over 120,000 harvested maize bags are tagged with QR codes to ensure traceability, recording : when, where, by whom, and at what quality it was produced and dispatched).
Sources
1. https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/sustainability/our-insights/sustainability-blog/now-the-ipcc-has-recognized-that-carbon-removals-are-critical-to-addressing-climate-change-its-time-to-act
2. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/270511013_Recommended_Production_Practices_for_Maize_in_Ghana
About Degas Ltd.
Company name : Degas Ltd.
Vision : Changing People’s Lives, Dramatically.
Representative : Doga Makiura
Paid-in Capital : 250 Million yen (as of January 2023)
Employees : 102