Injaro Agricultural Capital Holdings, a $50m impact investment fund managed by Injaro Investments, has made an investment in Agricare, a Ghanaian-owned animal feed producer based in Kumasi.

Jerry Parkes, CEO of Injaro Investments, said this investment reinforces Injaro's long term support of Ghana's agriculture sector and hopes to enhance the economic contributions made by the country's hardworking smallholder farmers.

"We believe that Agricare can play a catalytic role in improving the efficiency of key agricultural value chains whilst generating a commensurate return for our investors," he said.

Originally established as a wholly owned international subsidiary of Pfizer Corporation of New York, USA, Agricare has a 47-year track record in the Ghanaian animal feed sector.

The company, which manufactures and sells poultry feed, also supplies livestock feed on a small scale to reputable research institutions and trades in feed input materials and animal health products.

Agricare's products are currently marketed through distributors across Ghana, Togo and Benin.

With the capital injection, Agricare intends to increase plant utilization, develop a cost-effective local supply chain and expand its reach across the West African sub-region.

The investment will also benefit local farmers through increased procurement of inputs such as maize and soy.

William Awuku Ahiadormey, Managing Director of Agricare, said that in Ghana, Agricare has been a trusted partner to smallholder poultry and livestock farmers for decades.

"Our mash and concentrate feeds have always been known for their high quality in terms of composition and positive impact on the growth of poultry and livestock. Having faced significant working capital challenges in the past two years, Agricare, has finally found a local partner in Injaro and thus is now positioned to regain its former market-leader status."

"With Injaro, we renew our commitment to sourcing a significant portion of our maize and soy inputs locally through the various farmer cooperatives and aggregators in the space. Further, by providing both equity and debt financing, Injaro provides effective partnership and resources that will help Agricare to become a pivotal player in the animal feed and agriculture value chain in Ghana."

It is anticipated that over 7,000 local farmers, many of whom are located in northern Ghana, will benefit directly from Agricare's operations over the next few years.

Mirabelle Moreaux, Investment Officer of Injaro Investments, said: "We are incredibly excited about Agricare's prospects given the quality of the core management team and the projected growth of demand for white protein in West Africa over the next few years."

"We look forward to a close and productive collaboration with the Agricare team and other partners to create a Ghanaian success story in the animal feed sector. Through this investment we hope to generate income for thousands of suppliers to Agricare, provide high quality and cost effective feed to the country's numerous small scale poultry producers," she said.

Injaro Agricultural Capital Holdings targets investments in the agricultural value chain in West Africa.

The Fund's portfolio companies in Ghana include: M&B Seeds and Agricultural Services, Kona Agro Processing and Sekaf Ghana.