Babban Gona (“Great Farm” in Hausa) is an award-winning, for-profit social enterprise founded in 2012 by Kola Masha to transform agriculture into a job-creation engine for smallholder farmers, particularly youth, in Northern Nigeria. Part-owned by its farmer members, Babban Gona addresses low economies of scale through a scalable franchise model, providing end-to-end services to increase yields and incomes. Key activities include:Agricultural Services: Delivering training in sustainable farming, soil analysis, financial literacy, and best agronomic practices through field agents. Farmers receive high-quality inputs (seeds, fertilizers, pesticides), credit, crop insurance, storage facilities (including a warehouse receipt program), and marketing support to maximize profits.Yield and Income Growth: Babban Gona farmers achieve yields twice the national average and incomes 2.5–3.8 times higher (e.g., $518/ha vs. $176/ha for average farmers in 2020), with a 99.9% loan repayment rate. Over 65,000 farmers have benefited, cultivating 55,000 hectares by 2021.Youth and Women Empowerment: Targeting unemployed youth to prevent insecurity and militancy, Babban Gona offers the Trust Group Entrepreneur (TGE) model for leadership and entrepreneurship. The Women Economic Development Initiative (WEDI) supports women with training and business incubation.Climate Resilience: Providing drought-tolerant seeds, training on soil structure and water retention, and promoting reduced deforestation and crop burning to mitigate climate change impacts, worsened by flooding in 2022 and 2024.Partnerships and Funding: Collaborating with USAID (Feed the Future, 2016), FMO (MASSIF, $4M loan in 2017), the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation ($4M grant in 2015), and the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA). AgriFI’s €5M investment in 2020 aims to support 1 million farmers by 2025.Babban Gona operates primarily in Kaduna, Kano, and other Northern states, addressing Nigeria’s agricultural challenges (25% of GDP, 70% workforce employment) and food insecurity, with a goal to create 10 million jobs by 2030 and 50 million across 10 countries by 2043.