Allied Atlantic Distilleries Ltd (AADL) is a Nigerian cassava-processing company.
About the SDM
A total of 2,000 hectares was leased to smallholders under a Block Farming Program. Professional mechanization services were offered to farmers, increasing the quantity and quality of cassava produced.
How it works
AADL previously sourced cassava primarily from individual scattered farmers, contract farmers, and contract suppliers from the catchments area. AADL invested heavily in service provisions to smallholder farmers. However, this practice became unsustainable when cassava prices rose steeply and side-selling soared. More than 80% of the farmers who had received inputs on credit from AADL neither repaid the credit nor sold their cassava to the processor thus leaving AADL unable to guarantee a stable supply of cassava for their processing factory.
With the support of IDH, AADL is currently in the process of establishing a block farming model; having leased 4,000 hectares of land with 2,000 hectares for their own production and 2,000 hectares to be farmed by smallholders under the Block Farming Program. The concentration of farmers is now on one piece of contiguous land which allows AADL to offer professional mechanization services in all operations including planting and harvesting through competent service provider like the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF).
Key Outcomes
AADL has been able to eliminate side-selling completely and increase the quantity and quality of cassava tubers produced by the block farmers. The block farming model allows the farmers participating in the SDM to earn a higher income at a lower workload.
It enables farmers to learn and apply successful practices not only on their plot on the block farm, but also on other plots they own near their homes. AADL is seeing many farmers evolving from subsistence farming to operating on a semi-commercial basis, guaranteeing a stable supply for AADL.
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