Nuru

What Nuru does

Nuru Nigeria is a nonprofit humanitarian and development organization established in 2018 and headquartered in northern Adamawa State, northeast Nigeria. It is a 100% locally-led Nigerian entity operating as part of the Nuru Collective alongside affiliate organizations in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Kenya, with Nuru International as its parent foundation. The organization operates a community-based market systems development model over a 5-7 year engagement period, working with local agribusiness leaders to professionalize farmer-owned cooperatives and build resilience corridors across 12 Local Government Areas proximate to conflict-vulnerable areas, targeting completion by 2030. Since 2018, Nuru Nigeria reports reaching 37,000+ people, supporting 20 agribusinesses, and increasing average farmer incomes from $13 to $145 USD, with 70% of beneficiaries being women farmers.

The organization's core service offering is agricultural development programming rather than a technology product. Its approach combines climate-smart regenerative agriculture training, gender-equity-focused livelihoods programming, and market linkage facilitation for crops and animal husbandry. Technical capabilities include a partnership with ignitia for weather forecasting climate information services to support farmer adaptation. Distribution is direct: Nuru Nigeria operates field offices and delivers programs directly to farming communities rather than through third-party channels, with marketing conducted via blog content, newsletters, and event hosting such as International Women's Day and World Food Day commemorations.

Nuru Nigeria's business model is donor-funded rather than revenue-generating. The organization operates as a registered nonprofit NGO with funding sourced from institutional donors including USAID, GIZ, and BMZ (German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development), supplemented by private foundations such as Whole Foods Market Foundation, ACT Trust Foundation, and corporate partners including Thank You Company. No revenue figures are publicly disclosed. Governance is led by Managing Director Amy Gaman, supported by a Strategic Leadership Team including Leadership & Partnership Director Simon Eli and HR & Administrative Manager Judith, alongside field staff such as Project Coordinators, M&E Coordinators, and Field Office Coordinators.

Name

Nuru

Legal name

Nuru Nigeria

Website

https://nurunigeria.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Nuru Nigeria is a locally-led nonprofit that builds farmer-owned agribusinesses and resilience corridors across 12 Local Government Areas in northeast Nigeria, serving primarily women smallholder farmers through climate-smart agriculture and market linkage programs funded by institutional donors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

International Agricultural Development Services

NAICS

Support Activities for Agriculture and Forestry (115)

SIC

Agricultural Services (700)

akta.pro primary industry

Rural Livelihoods & Economic Empowerment (BPAGABAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems (BPAGAGAI)

Keywords

• Agricultural development programs
• Community-based market systems
• Climate-smart agriculture training
• Smallholder farmer support
• Rural livelihood programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Donor Funding / Grants: As a nonprofit organization focused on ending extreme poverty, Nuru Nigeria operates primarily through donor funding and grants from institutional donors including USAID, GIZ, BMZ, and private foundations such as Whole Foods Market Foundation.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Nuru is a non-profit agricultural development organization that works directly with smallholder farming households in northeast Nigeria to build resilient agribusinesses and livelihoods. Its core offering is a multi-year (5–7 year) program bundle that combines climate-smart regenerative agriculture training, community-based market systems development, and gender-equity-focused livelihoods support, delivered through locally recruited staff and community agribusiness leaders. Programs are not sold to beneficiaries; they are funded by institutional donors and delivered free-of-charge to farmer participants.

Product overview

Nuru Nigeria is a non-profit humanitarian and development organization, not a technology product company. It provides agricultural development programs and community support services rather than commercial software products or technology platforms. Its offerings include farmer agribusiness development programs, community-based market systems strengthening, inclusive livelihoods support, gender equity initiatives, and climate-smart agriculture training services for farmers in northeast Nigeria.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Community-Based Market Systems Program

Quantifiable outcome

• 37,000+ people reached since 2018
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• African Nature Investors (ANI)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner focused on nature-based investments and sustainable agricultural development in Africa.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Pacific Smallholder Farmers' equivalent - Opportunity International (Agricultural Finance): Opportunity International provides financial services and agricultural support to smallholder entrepreneurs in developing markets, overlapping with Nuru's smallholder agribusiness and women-focused work as an adjacent financier.

Broad incumbents

• BRAC: BRAC operates large-scale poverty alleviation and microenterprise programs across Africa and Asia, including smallholder agricultural development — a broad incumbent operating similarly to Nuru at much greater scale.
• Mercy Corps: Mercy Corps runs large-scale humanitarian and economic recovery programs in fragile states, including agribusiness recovery in northeast Nigeria, making it both a collaborator and a larger incumbent in the same space.

Direct peers

• Heifer International: Heifer International supports smallholder farmers and rural communities with livestock and agricultural value chain development, closely aligned with Nuru's crop and animal husbandry focus in fragile contexts.
• One Acre Fund: One Acre Fund provides smallholder farmers in Africa with inputs, financing, and training to lift incomes — directly comparable to Nuru's model of supporting Nigerian smallholders via agribusiness development and market linkages.
• Farm Africa: Farm Africa reduces poverty by helping African farmers grow their incomes through sustainable agriculture and market access — mirroring Nuru's climate-smart, market-linkage approach in Africa.
• Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture (CNFA): CNFA implements market-driven agricultural development programs across fragile contexts, overlapping directly with Nuru's community-based market systems approach to smallholder value chains.
• Self Help Africa: Self Help Africa works with smallholder farmers across sub-Saharan Africa to grow incomes and food security via enterprise and cooperative development — directly comparable to Nuru's agribusiness and cooperative focus.
• TechnoServe: TechnoServe works with entrepreneurs and smallholder farmers in Africa to build competitive, resilient agricultural businesses, directly overlapping with Nuru's agribusiness professionalization and market systems work.

Regional players

• Root Capital: Root Capital finances agricultural enterprises in Africa and Latin America, supplying capital to cooperatives like those Nuru builds — comparable as an agricultural SME enabler in adjacent geographies.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/NuruNigeria
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/nuru-international
• Facebookfacebook.com/nuruinternational

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Nuru