Have you heard about the Agri-tech company called EZfarming and looking to invest in their farm microlending scheme?
Are you sceptical and curious to know if EZfarming is a legit or scam investment scheme?
No need to worry, as this review article would help you scrutinize the investment opportunity presented by EZfarming to verify its legitimacy.
Note that this review is written for information purposes only, and does not serve as investment advice. You, as an investor, have the prerogative to invest or not to invest.
So, what Is EZfarming All About?
EZfarming is a multinational farm accelerator with a mission to facilitate agro investment opportunities, tackle youth unemployment, and support agricultural scalability towards fighting global hunger.
The company has its office location in the U.S, but is operational in many other countries, including Nigeria.
EZfarming claims to be a farm accelerator for smallholder farmers operated by Agri-tech experts, with the aim of connecting farmers with lenders and buyers.
In other words, EZfarming helps small scale farmers get access to funding and markets, to grow their business.
In the same vein, the company helps investors find the best-bet farm opportunities to grow their money, while supporting the venture with agro-allied management services and insurance.
How Does EZfarming Make Money?
EZfarming provides expert agro-allied services across the agriculture value chain, which in turn, provides revenue for the company.
When investors fund a farm, EZfarming would be responsible for managing the funds, and helping farmers maximize the use of funds towards improving farm yields.
In turn, EZfarming gets a cut off the sale of farm yields at harvest time.
How to Invest in EZfarming
EZfarming has a long list of farm projects to invest in. From Soya bean and cassava, to poultry.
As at the time of writing this review, here are the farm investment opportunities available on the EZfarming platform:
Poultry Farm
The poultry farm package from EZfarming runs for a tenure of 7 months and yields a ROI of 17%.
Groundnut Farm
EZfarming groundnut Farm package is offered with a 6 months maturity period, and yields a ROI of 16%.
Goat Farming
The goat farming package from EZfarming is offered with a 5 months maturity period, and yields a ROI of 15.5%.
How Much ROI Does EZfarming Offer?
The ROI you get from investing with EZfarming depends on the farm project that you sponsor.
You could get a ROI anywhere from 15% to 20% depending on the farm package and units purchased.
Investors could even mix different packages to boost their ROI output.
Is EZfarming Legit or Scam?
There is no straightforward answer for this, but I’ll like to say that the EZfarming proposition is well put together.
The company has received support from renowned institutions such as 500 Startups and Impacthub Lagos, which strongly validates their reputation.
However, I’m wary about the company’s effectiveness in operating and managing the local farm projects from their U.S. office.
I’m not sure if they have local offices or local agric management partners who run the farm projects on their behalf.
Can You Lose Money With EZfarming?
It depends.
EZfarming claims that they insure every farm through extensive insurance coverage by Leadway Assurance.
A search on Leadway Assurance Agri-tech partnership platform shows that EZ-Farming Limited enjoys insurance coverage for Agric-crop, with the insured item cassava.
This should mean that Leadway Assurance only covers EZfarming cassava farms.
I’m not sure if they have any insurance coverage from other insurance companies in Nigeria.
If not, then it means that if something goes wrong with any of EZfarming farm projects other than their cassava farms, then investors might lose money.
Should You Invest in EZfarming?
To be honest, EZfarming farm packages look lucrative and enticing.
I like short-term fixed income opportunities just like this, and EZfarming does so well with their ROI offering.
Imagine making 15.5% in just 5 months with the EZfarming goat farming package. You could ideally make a 31% ROI in just 10 months if you choose to reinvest.
However, as good as it looks, I would advise that you invest with only money you can afford to lose.
The insurance coverage utilized by EZfarming does not cover loss of investors’ funds in the case of mismanagement and bankruptcy.
So, invest with caution.