Established in 2016 and based in Addis Ababa, Green Agro-Solution PLC is a private company operating through its flagship platform, Lersha, which provides tailored advisory services to smallholder farmers in Ethiopia, fostering innovation and sustainability. With a staff of 86 (41 women), Lersha offers services in farm inputs and mechanization, aggregation facilitation, agro-climate advisory, crop extension support, and access to finance. These services are delivered through the Lersha platform, an in-house mobile application and multilingual call center that ensures accessibility across diverse communities.

Lersha provides real-time weather alerts, pest and disease management advice, fertilization guidance, access to improved seeds, and information on climate-smart Good Agricultural Practices (GAP). It facilitates market linkages, contract farming arrangements, and financing through partnerships with microfinance institutions and banks. Operating in seven Ethiopian regions, with eight offices and a liaison office in Kenya, Lersha has served over 227,000 smallholders, generating 87.5% of its revenue from service fees.

Green Agro-Solution leverages digitalization to revolutionize Ethiopia’s agriculture sector and enhance farmers’ resilience. Lersha raises awareness of agro-climate conditions through dynamic SMS and voice blasts in local languages and conducts robust follow-up mechanisms to gather farmer feedback. The platform is committed to empowering stakeholders by providing tailored advisory services and fostering technology adoption.

Lersha also focuses on capacitating input suppliers, mechanization service providers, agribusinesses, agricultural associations, and financial institutions. This is achieved through awareness creation, capacity building, digital platform integration, and comprehensive support to ensure sustainable growth. By facilitating access to finance, improving market linkages, and driving digital transformation, Green Agro-Solution aims to create a resilient and thriving agricultural ecosystem in Ethiopia.

Green Agro-Solution aims to create competitive market environments by empowering producers and ensuring fairer practices in markets dominated by brokers. Focused on areas like Sidama, Gurage, and Jimma, the company envisions transforming the vegetable sector and advancing Ethiopia’s agricultural development. Their hybrid engagement model offers comprehensive support for producers and buyers through digital data-driven solutions and physical engagement, potentially attracting many businesses to adopt this efficient approach, increasing transaction volumes and incomes.

Contact: Mr Abrhame Endrias (photo) Email

Extending Tri-patriate Contract Farming Model with Farm Input, Finance and Weather Alert Information Services to the Vegetable Sector

This project demonstrates how enhancing smallholder farmers’ climate resilience and adaptation capacity, and strengthening supply linkages between smallholder farmers and offtakers, leads to a more integrated and sustainable agricultural ecosystem.

The objective of the CASA partnership with Green Agro-Solution (December 2024 – December 2025) is to address critical bottlenecks in the vegetable value chain, such as limited technical skills, access to quality seeds, markets, and market information. Building on its success in contract farming for wheat, Green Agro-Solution collaborates with CASA to introduce similar models in the vegetable sector. The initiative focuses on adapting and scaling the proven farming model from grains and pulses to vegetables, leveraging market-driven solutions such as credit scoring, pest and disease detection technology, and enhanced advisory services through the Lersha platform.

Through the collaboration, Lersha aims to expand its reach through 2,170 agents and extend its impact to new geographies. Farmers will gain access to climate-smart Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), real-time climate and weather data, market information, financial services, and tailored advisory support. By incorporating cutting-edge tools like real-time weather alerts, pest and disease management technologies, and resilient farming practices, the project will empower farmers to adapt to climate variability, enhancing productivity and ensuring sustainable production systems. Aiming to reach 3,000 smallholder farmers (30% women) through capacity-building activities, among these, the early technology adopters and the majority (90%) are expected to properly use the technology and ensure their resilience. The contract farming arrangement will also help to strengthen farmers’ climate change adaptation and resilience, through creating reliable market outlets and dependable income.

Additionally, the initiative will facilitate stable market access and expand Lersha’s agent network for robust and scalable service delivery. By 2026, the project aims to empower 10,000 farmers, strengthen market systems, and promote widespread adoption of climate-resilient agricultural practices, contributing to the sustainable growth of Ethiopia’s vegetable value chain.

Of the total project cost of £134,475, CASA is contributing £72,425 (53.9%) through technical assistance and a grant.

The new business model will integrate existing aggregators and informal brokers as commissioned agents, testing attractive incentive packages to reduce their disruptive market influence. Lersha will also utilize existing agents to deliver technical support to smallholders and aggregators, improving productivity and market information flow.

The model, based on the grains sector experience, will charge a 2% commission on transactions involving input suppliers, offtakers, lenders, and farmers. Adding the vegetable value chain smallholders is expected to increase advisory service adoption rates to 21% (breakeven point) or beyond. Achieving this rate will enable Lersha to generate profit and support growth.

CASA will facilitate Lersha’s engagement with new public stakeholders, fostering collaboration and partnerships to address key bottlenecks in the vegetable value chain. This support is critical for Lersha to expand operations into new geographies, contributing to a more efficient and sustainable vegetable production and market ecosystem.

Updated: March 2025