The most important aspect of revolutionary blockchain technology is its real-life problem-solving features. One of the startups that intend to make the common man enjoy the dividends of blockchain technology is Farmchain Finance, which was founded by Stanley Golomo.
In an interview with Technext, Stanley explains what Farmchain Finance sets out to do and the challenges the startup has encountered.
Stanley Golomo has a background in Civil Engineering, but he has always engaged in network marketing on the Internet. He ventured into crypto in 2015 but he fell for some scam projects.
“But those were also the beginning of my curiosity into what blockchain really is and how one can tap into the wealth of the blockchain. I started doing lots of research and self learning, connecting with other high level blockchain pros and enthusiasts in the country and that brought me to where I am today.”
– Stanley Golomo, CEO of Farmchain Finance.
Immutability, Transparency and decentralization are Stanley Golomo’s most admirable attributes of blockchain technology.
Farmchain Finance
Stanley Golomo told Technext that the birth of Farmchain Finance came as a result of the sad experiences he encountered when he was assisting some cooperative farmers to raise funds through the government agric loan programs.
“After a series of efforts and meeting all requirements, the funds could not get to the famers. It was really a sad event for both I and the thousands of famers that were expecting the funds. But that disappointment and my knowledge of blockchain, led me to come up with the idea of farmchain finance.”
Now, Farmchain Finance is a Web 3 ecosystem that uses blockchain technology to enable access to funding for the entire farm2table value chain business seamlessly. These processes are enabled via asset tokenisation.
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In simpler terms, Farmchain Finance makes it possible for farmers to gain access to a global crowdfunded lending platform. With tokenisation, users can acquire units of tokenised farms in the form of an NFT, and the funds generated are used to empower the farmers.
At the end of each farming season, earnings are distributed to all holders of the tokenised NFT. So in the end, it is a win-win situation for all parties involved.
Stanley Golomo describes the journey with Farmchain Finance as challenging. “But we are still here waxing strong. you know what it’s like building from this part of the world.”
According to him, Farmchain Finance has empowered over 1000 farmers in various capacities asides from funding. “We have also helped over 50 farm products vendors get access to funding to help boost their supply strength, through our cooperative model that was launched last year.”
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The initiative is largely focused on the South-South geopolitical zone of Nigeria but Stanley says there are plans to expand to other parts of the country and beyond.
On Funding
Stanley Golomo confirms that Farmchain Finance has not received any Venture Capital funding and all activities have been self-funded by the team, family and friends.
“It has not been very rosy bootstrapping at all. Yes, in the near future, we will need funding for sure.”
His short-term vision for Farmchain is to enable up to 5,000 farmers gain access to finance and help boost their production in the next 2 to 5 years. While in the long term:
“I want to see Farmchain become the leading blockchain brand that is bridging the Gap between retail investors and farmers as well as farm produce vendors in Africa.”
Subsequently, Stanley Golomo and Farmchain Finance have interesting developments in the works. One is the launch of a product from Farmchain Finance Coop, called RotaCash.
“This is a product to help us deepen our financial inclusion vision for the under-banked, enabling them to get access to zero interest loans to boost the business as well as instilling a savings culture for them. The product is still in better testing.”
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