An agribusiness technology firm focused on strengthening transparency, trust and trade across agricultural value chains globally – Agrolinking, has unveiled AgTrail, a digital food traceability platform aimed at helping Nigerian farmers and exporters comply with the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).

This initiative is coming at a time when there is growing concerns over the country’s exposure to the regulation. The EUDR, formally Regulation (EU) 2023/1115, prohibits agricultural and forest-related products linked to deforestation or forest degradation from entering the EU market. It requires proof that commodities were not produced on land deforested after December 31, 2020, and they are legally produced, and are traceable to verified farm locations using geolocation data.

Speaking on the significance of the regulation, CEO and Co-founder of Agrolinking, Joseph Fashola, said Nigeria’s agricultural trade with the European Union has expanded rapidly, with agri-food exports rising from about €477m in 2020 to approximately €1.68b in 2024.

He noted that cocoa remains Nigeria’s dominant agricultural export to the EU, accounting for the vast majority of export earnings and representing the country’s largest source of exposure to compliance risks under the EUDR.

Fashola explained that because cocoa is explicitly listed under the EUDR, any failure in farm mapping, traceability, or deforestation-risk assessment could directly threaten the bulk of Nigeria’s agricultural export earnings from the European Union.

He added that other EUDR-covered commodities, including palm oil, coffee, rubber, wood, soy, and cattle-related products, are subject to similar due-diligence requirements, even though they currently contribute smaller shares of export value.

According to him, the regulation poses a significant challenge for Nigerian farmers, as much of the country’s agricultural production is driven by smallholders operating on family or communal land, typically without formal land titles, digital production records, or GPS-mapped farm boundaries, conditions that could limit their ability to maintain or secure access to EU markets under the new rules.

He said this creates a structural exclusion risk, as farms that are not GPS-mapped, or whose produce cannot be traced to a specific plot, become commercially unattractive. He added that exporters are likely to avoid non-traceable sources to reduce the risk of shipment rejection, penalties, and regulatory sanctions. He said this shift could affect the stability of supply chains serving EU markets and, by extension, food availability and consumer confidence.

Fashola said AgTrail was developed to address these gaps by enabling GPS-based farm boundary mapping, digital farmer records, digital product passports and end-to-end traceability from farm to fork. He added that the platform supports the generation of due-diligence documentation that exporters can use to meet EU compliance requirements.

He stressed that effective EUDR compliance will require collaboration among farmers, cooperatives, exporters, technology providers, and government agencies, adding that sustained investment in traceability infrastructure could help Nigeria retain access to EU markets and strengthen its competitiveness as global trade and sustainability standards tighten. He said Agrolinking is engaging with both private- and public-sector partners to support coordinated implementation and scale adoption across priority value chains