Certainly, the CEO/Co-founder of Winich Farms, Attai Riches, is one of Nigeria’s silent heroes championing food security in the country.

This much he revealed in this special interview with The Guardian, tagged ‘Champions of Food Security: Honouring Nigeria’s Silent Heroes’.

Speaking from his company’s headquarters at 22 Glover Road, Ikoyi, Lagos, he highlighted the various efforts undertaken to tackle and address the numerous challenges facing Nigeria’s agricultural sector.

The interview is in keeping with The Guardian tradition of affirming every October 16 the fundamental truth that: Food is Life, even in the face of the challenges facing the agricultural sector in the country.

The Newspaper identifies and celebrates individuals and organisations who support the truism about food, hence the interview below with the CEO/Co-founder of Winich Farms, Attai Riches.

Amid rising inflation and supply shortages, what steps is Winich Farms taking to stabilise food prices and ensure a consistent supply of affordable produce to local markets?

Amid rising inflation and food shortages, Winich Farms has built a resilient supply system that connects over 300,000 rural smallholder farmers directly to informal processors across Nigeria.

Our model eliminates exploitative middlemen, ensures transparent real-time pricing through our USSD platform, and promotes steady supply flows via more than 4,000 always-on aggregation centres operating in 13 states.

By enabling farmers to sell any day of the week and facilitating same-day payments via our Winich debit and prepaid cards (in partnership with Sterling and Providus banks), we have helped maintain consistent produce availability even during periods of market volatility.

Through predictive demand tools, we match supply and demand in real time, preventing artificial scarcity and keeping food affordable for local markets.

Post-harvest losses due to inadequate storage and logistics continue to hinder food security. What solutions has Winich Farms implemented to reduce these losses and enhance food distribution efficiency?

Nigeria loses over 40 per cent of its food to post-harvest inefficiencies. Winich Farms is reversing this trend through a combination of technology and local infrastructure.

Our aggregation centres, each managed by trained community agents, allow farmers to store, grade, and sell their produce closer to home. This has cut post-harvest losses by up to 30 per cent, especially in grains and tubers.

We also deploy real-time quality checks, digital inventory management, and micro-warehousing models to ensure efficient collection and delivery. Through partnerships with local driver cooperatives, most deliveries reach processors within 24–48 hours, ensuring quality and reducing waste.

Access to profitable markets remains a challenge for smallholder farmers. How is Winich Farms helping to bridge this gap, and what strategies are being used to boost farmers’ incomes?

At the heart of our mission is a commitment to empower farmers with fair access to profitable markets.

Our hybrid platform, combining USSD tools, mobile apps, and community agents, connects farmers directly to thousands of verified buyers. This has led to income increases of up to 40 per cent within two years for active farmers.

We issue Winich debit cards to farmers (which is the first of its kind), helping them to receive instant digital payments, build transaction histories, and qualify for credit, savings, and insurance.

By turning every transaction into a pathway for financial inclusion, we’re transforming subsistence farmers into active participants in a modern, data-driven agri-economy.

Insecurity in agricultural regions has significantly disrupted production. How has Winich Farms been affected by this, and what strategies have you adopted to ensure operational continuity and safeguard stakeholders?

Insecurity in rural areas has affected many parts of Nigeria’s agricultural landscape. While that is the reality, we have tried to navigate our way through localised resilience strategies.

Our agent-based model allows operations to continue safely in the rural communities with over 4,000 community-embedded agents operating as trusted intermediaries.

We diversify sourcing across multiple states and regions, reducing exposure to localised disruptions.

This decentralised and community-trusted structure keeps the supply chain running smoothly even under challenging circumstances.

The rising costs of agricultural inputs, including fertilisers and fuel, have put pressure on farmers. How is Winich Farms supporting its partners in managing these challenges while sustaining productivity and promoting sustainability?

Rising fertiliser and fuel prices have severely strained smallholders, but Winich Farms is helping farmers absorb these shocks through financial and operational support mechanisms.

By digitising transactions and shortening the value chain, we reduce farmers’ dependence on intermediaries, helping them to retain a greater share of their earnings.

We’re currently piloting produce-collateralised credit programmes, allowing farmers to access financing without traditional collateral.

Additionally, timely and fair payments through the Winich card system enable farmers to reinvest in quality inputs, sustain productivity, and plan better for the next planting cycle, promoting long-term sustainability and food security.

With a growing trend of youth leaving agriculture, what initiatives is Winich Farms spearheading to attract young Nigerians into farming, particularly through technology and modern agricultural practices?

We recognise that Nigeria’s agricultural future depends on youth participation.
At Winich Farms, we’re redefining farming as a tech-enabled, financially rewarding enterprise.

Our digital platforms, “Winich Inventory Manager App” and “Agent Aggregation App” provide young Nigerians with meaningful opportunities in agri-tech, logistics, community engagement, finance, and data analytics.

We also engage youth-led cooperatives as aggregation agents, giving them a pathway into entrepreneurship.

By merging innovation with purpose, we’re not only digitising agriculture but also making it aspirational for the next generation.

Looking ahead, what are Winich Farms’ plans to scale up its impact and contribute to Nigeria’s long-term food self-sufficiency? How do you envision your organisation influencing the country’s agricultural transformation?Looking ahead, Winich Farms aims to reach two million farmers and 150,000 processors by 2028, scaling across Nigeria and expanding into other markets.

We are investing in traceability systems, produce-backed credit, and embedded finance, ensuring smallholder farmers have access to the full suite of financial tools needed for sustainable growth.

Our vision is clear: “to become Africa’s leading agri-commerce and financial inclusion platform, empowering millions of smallholders to thrive, stabilising food supply chains, and driving Nigeria toward true food self-sufficiency”.
Through collaboration with banks, insurers, cooperatives, and government partners, Winich Farms stands firmly “hand in hand for better food and a better future.”

QUOTE ONE

“By enabling farmers to sell any day of the week and facilitating same-day payments via our Winich debit and prepaid cards (in partnership with Sterling and Providus banks), we have helped maintain consistent produce availability even during periods of market volatility.”

QUOTE TWO
“Looking ahead, Winich Farms aims to reach two million farmers and 150,000 processors by 2028, scaling across Nigeria and expanding into other markets.”

QUOTE THREE
“Rising fertiliser and fuel prices have severely strained smallholders, but Winich Farms is helping farmers absorb these shocks through financial and operational support mechanisms.”