From Idea Hub Winner to LSETF Partner: How Cubeseed Is Unlocking Access to Finance for Broiler Farmers in Lagos
Two years ago, Cubeseed Africa walked into the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund offices as a young agritech startup with a bold idea, a B2B bulk protein marketplace built to fix the broken supply chain between Nigerian farmers and food businesses.
We made our case. We earned our shot. And we came home as winners of the LSETF Idea Hub 12.0 programme in 2025.
This week, we walked back into that same office, and the entire nature of the conversation had changed.
This time, we were not there to receive. We were there to build.
What Happened at the LSETF Office in Ikeja?
On a recent afternoon at the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund headquarters in Ikeja, the Cubeseed Africa team, represented by Mr. Ayobami Peter Okunola and Mr. Yusuf Akeem Mayowa, met with Mrs. Feyisayo Alayande, Executive Secretary of LSETF.
The reception was warm. The nostalgia was palpable. Because the last time Cubeseed had been in that building, it was standing on the stage of the Idea Hub 12.0 pitch competition, having just been recognised as one of Lagos’s most promising early-stage ventures.
That recognition opened a door. This meeting walked through it.
What followed was a substantive conversation about formalising a strategic partnership between Cubeseed Africa and LSETF, one anchored in a shared mission: empowering Nigerian farmers and employing Nigeria’s youth through structured economic infrastructure.
The centrepiece of that conversation was a programme that Cubeseed is deeply passionate about: unlocking access to finance for broiler farmers in Lagos.
Why Do Broiler Farmers in Lagos Struggle to Access Finance?
Access to finance remains one of the most persistent structural barriers facing poultry farmers across Nigeria, and broiler farmers in Lagos are not exempt.
Despite being at the heart of Nigeria’s protein supply chain, the average commercial broiler farmer operates in a financially fragile environment characterised by three compounding challenges:
1. Lack of formal credit access Most commercial banks in Nigeria require collateral that smallholder and mid-scale broiler farmers cannot provide. According to data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), fewer than 5% of agricultural credit facilities reach smallholder farmers through formal banking channels. The result: farmers self-finance, borrow from informal lenders at punishing interest rates, or scale down production simply because working capital is unavailable at the right time.
2. No guaranteed market (offtake uncertainty) A broiler farmer who secures financing but cannot guarantee who will buy his harvest at the end of the cycle is still operating in survival mode. Price volatility, middlemen compressing margins, and the inability to negotiate terms with large food buyers leave farmers absorbing risk at both ends of the supply chain, inputs and outputs.
3. No structured production support Financing without accompanying technical and operational support produces inconsistent results. Farmers who lack veterinary guidance, feed sourcing networks, and biosecurity knowledge produce birds of variable quality, making them less attractive to vetted B2B buyers who need predictable supply.
These three problems are not separate. They are interconnected. And solving only one without the others produces limited, unsustainable outcomes.
That is precisely why Cubeseed’s programme is designed to address all three simultaneously.
What Is the Cubeseed-LSETF Broiler Farmer Finance Programme?
The partnership between Cubeseed Africa and the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund is structured around a three-pillar intervention model for broiler farmers in Lagos:
| Pillar | What It Delivers | Who Benefits |
|---|---|---|
| Access to Finance | Structured credit and financing pathways for production cycles | Lagos state broiler farmers in Lagos with no formal credit history |
| Production Support | Technical guidance on feed management, biosecurity, and yield optimisation | Farmers growing 1,000 birds per cycle |
| Market Access | Direct connection to vetted food businesses — restaurants, hotels, caterers, and distributors — through Cubeseed’s B2B marketplace | Farmers who currently sell through informal middlemen at compressed margins |
LSETF brings the mandate and the financial architecture, rooted in its mission to create employment and economic opportunity for Lagos residents.
Cubeseed brings the marketplace infrastructure, the vetted buyer network, the escrow-protected payment system (Bank-backed), and the operational credibility to connect farm-gate supply to structured B2B demand.
Together, the programme is designed to do something that individual interventions often fail to accomplish: close the loop between production and income for broiler farmers in Lagos.
Why This Partnership Matters for Nigeria’s Food Security
Nigeria’s annual broiler production falls significantly short of domestic demand. The Poultry Association of Nigeria (PAN) has consistently highlighted a production gap that keeps frozen chicken imports, which cost Nigeria billions of naira in foreign exchange annually, artificially elevated.
The root cause of that gap is not a lack of farmland, willing farmers, or consumer demand. It is a systemic failure of the infrastructure that should support farmers to produce at scale: finance, market certainty, and technical support.
Lagos State, as Nigeria’s commercial capital and most densely populated food market, represents both the highest concentration of protein demand and one of the most accessible environments for scaling structured farming programmes.
A programme that increases the productive capacity of broiler farmers in Lagos — by resolving their financing barriers and guaranteeing their market access — directly contributes to:
- Reduced dependence on imported frozen chicken
- Lower protein costs for Lagos food businesses
- More predictable supply for restaurants, hotels, and caterers sourcing through Cubeseed
- Employment creation across the farming value chain, from day-old chick suppliers to feed distributors to processing operators
Food security in Nigeria is not a single intervention problem. It is an ecosystem problem. And ecosystem problems require ecosystem solutions.
Beyond Broilers: What Other Projects Were Discussed?
The Ikeja meeting covered more than the broiler farmer finance programme.
A broader conversation emerged around youth empowerment and employment, specifically, Lagos youth who have completed skills training programmes, acquired relevant knowledge and assets, but remain economically inactive for lack of platforms to convert that capability into sustainable income.
LSETF’s mandate includes exactly this population. Cubeseed’s marketplace infrastructure, which connects skilled operators across the agricultural value chain, offers a complementary deployment pathway.
While the full details of these additional projects are still being finalised and will be announced in the coming weeks, the direction is clear: Cubeseed and LSETF are not building a single programme. They are building an integrated economic infrastructure for food production, employment, and youth empowerment in Lagos.
Impact metrics for all active programmes will be published as they are measured. Cubeseed is committed to accountability, not just announcements.
From Beneficiary to Builder: The Cubeseed Journey with LSETF
There is something deeply meaningful about returning to the institution that believed in you early, not to report on what you have achieved, but to begin something new together.
Cubeseed Africa did not emerge from a corporate boardroom or a Silicon Valley accelerator. It was built by Nigerians who understood the daily dysfunction of Nigeria’s food supply chain because they had seen it up close: the farmer who could not get paid on time, the restaurant owner who could not trust the supplier, the cold room operator who could not access working capital to scale.
The LSETF Idea Hub 12.0 programme gave Cubeseed early validation, exposure, and the institutional credibility that helped open conversations with partners, buyers, and farmers who would have otherwise taken longer to trust a new marketplace.
That recognition mattered. But what matters more is what comes next.
We are privileged to be found worthy of this expanded assignment. We do not take it lightly. The weight of serving farmers, feeding businesses, and employing young Nigerians is real, and it demands operational excellence, not just good intentions.
Cubeseed’s mission has always been to build the infrastructure that makes Nigeria’s agricultural economy work for the people inside it. This partnership is not a departure from that mission. It is its most direct expression yet.
How Broiler Farmers in Lagos Can Participate
If you are a commercial broiler farmer in Lagos and you want to be considered for the Cubeseed-LSETF broiler farmer finance and market access programme, here is what you need to know:
Step 1 — Register on Cubeseed Africa Visit www.cubeseed.com.ng and create a seller account. Provide accurate information about your farm size, production capacity (birds per cycle), and current market.
Step 2 — Complete the Farmer Verification Process Cubeseed’s supplier vetting process includes farm location verification, production history assessment, and a brief quality assurance review. Farmers who meet the criteria are listed as vetted suppliers on the platform.
Step 3 — Access Finance and Market Connections Once verified, eligible farmers will be considered for the structured financing programme and connected directly to Cubeseed’s network of vetted B2B buyers, restaurants, hotels, caterers, distributors, and cold room operators purchasing bulk protein across Lagos.
Programme details, eligibility criteria, and application deadlines will be published on the Cubeseed platform and official social media channels. Follow @CubeseedAfrica to receive updates as they are released.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What is the LSETF Idea Hub programme, and how is Cubeseed connected to it? A: The Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) Idea Hub is a competitive accelerator programme that identifies and supports promising early-stage businesses in Lagos with the potential to create employment. Cubeseed Africa was recognised as a winner of the Idea Hub 12.0 cohort in 2025. This recognition led to a formal partnership conversation focused on agricultural finance and youth empowerment.
Q: How does the Cubeseed-LSETF programme help broiler farmers access finance in Lagos? A: The programme is built around three pillars: structured credit access for production cycles, technical production support, and guaranteed market access through Cubeseed’s vetted B2B buyer network. Rather than providing standalone financing, the programme connects farmers to a full ecosystem, from funding to offtake, reducing the risk for all parties involved.
Q: What is Cubeseed’s escrow payment system, and how does it protect farmers? A: Cubeseed uses an escrow-protected payment model powered by Sterling Bank, branded as Cubeseed SafePay. When a buyer places an order, payment is held in escrow by Sterling Bank until delivery is confirmed. This means farmers are protected from non-payment and buyers are protected from quality disputes. Both sides transact with confidence.
Q: Is the broiler farmer finance programme available outside Lagos? A: The current programme is focused on Lagos State in partnership with LSETF, whose mandate covers Lagos residents. Cubeseed’s longer-term roadmap includes expanding verified farmer onboarding and market access to other states. Farmers outside Lagos can still register on the Cubeseed platform as vetted suppliers and access the buyer network.
Q: How can food businesses in Lagos benefit from sourcing through Cubeseed’s farmer network? A: Food businesses, including restaurants, hotels, cold room operators, caterers, and distributors, that source bulk protein through Cubeseed gain access to a vetted, quality-assured supply chain with escrow-protected payments and BNPL financing options. As the broiler farmer programme scales production volume, buyers benefit from improved supply reliability, competitive farm-gate pricing, and reduced sourcing risk.
Cubeseed Africa is a Nigerian B2B bulk protein marketplace connecting vetted livestock farmers and processors with food businesses through escrow-protected payments, BNPL financing, and verified supplier matching.
Visit app.cubeseed.com.ng to register as a buyer or seller.
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