Ifeoluwa Olatayo

Bio

Ifeoluwa Olatayo, a Nigerian agripreneur, is the founder of Soupah Farm-en-Market Limited, a climate-smart enterprise that uses hydroponics technology to plant food and supports rural smallholder farmers with solar-powered irrigation to gain resilience against the impacts of climate change. Through her business, Ifeoluwa has trained 6,000 youths and farmers on the economic and environmental value of integrating agribusiness with sustainability. She has received numerous accolades, including being named a Borlaug-Adesina Fellow, a Top 20 Jack Ma’s Foundation Africa Business Hero, and a Top 10 Youth Adaptation Awards recipient.

Soupah Farm-en-Market works directly with rural farmers to connect their produce to urban markets through a B2B marketplace that eliminates exploitative brokers, ensuring fair pay and equitable market access. Their model also offers farmers climate support products by providing them with climate resilient input and infrastructure such as improved seeds, solar-powered irrigation, and agronomic support enterprise, boosting farmers' yields by 90%. The initiative has gleaned over 9,846 tons of food, preventing post-harvest losses and reducing methane emissions by 1,792 tons. This effort has also increased access to nutritious foods and reduced food prices by 8% in impact areas.