Nigeria’s agricultural sector is largely driven by smallholder farmers, many of whom struggle with limited access to financing, quality farm inputs, training and reliable markets. For entrepreneur Kola Masha, addressing these challenges became the foundation for building one of Nigeria’s recognised agricultural social enterprises.
Masha is the co-founder and Managing Director of Babban Gona, an agricultural enterprise that works with smallholder farmers through a business model designed to improve productivity, increase incomes and create employment opportunities in rural communities.
His career, however, began outside the agricultural sector.
From Engineering to Entrepreneurship
Masha holds a master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Before establishing Babban Gona, he built experience across corporate leadership, finance, business development and operations. His previous professional engagements included leadership roles at General Electric (GE) and Abiomed, as well as serving as Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of a subsidiary of Nigeria’s Notore Group.
At Notore, he was involved in developing agricultural trading, production and processing operations. He also led commercial strategies aimed at expanding the company’s fertiliser business across West and Central Africa.
According to a June 2026 account published by SpainNAB, Masha’s career path also included experiences in music, television and healthcare before he eventually returned to Nigeria.
The Idea Behind Babban Gona
Masha co-founded Babban Gona to address some of the structural challenges facing smallholder farmers in Nigeria.
The organisation’s approach was influenced partly by his interest in farmer cooperatives. In an interview published by the Christensen Institute in 2020, Masha explained that the experience of his grandfather, a smallholder farmer in South Dakota who benefited from farmer cooperatives, influenced his thinking.
He also used an Eisenhower Fellowship to study approximately two dozen farmer cooperatives in the United States. The lessons from those visits helped shape the foundation of Babban Gona.
The organisation’s name means “Great Farm” in Hausa.
Rather than operating as a conventional agricultural company, Babban Gona developed an agricultural franchise model that organises smallholder farmers into smaller groups and provides services intended to improve their farming operations.
How Babban Gona Makes Its Business Model Work
Babban Gona’s model combines financial and non-financial services to support farmers throughout the agricultural production process.
Its services include access to financing, quality seeds and fertilisers, agricultural training, technical support, storage and connections to markets where farmers can sell their produce.
By bringing these services together, the organisation seeks to address several problems that traditionally make small-scale farming less profitable.
The business model also creates an opportunity to build a commercially sustainable enterprise while improving the livelihoods of farmers.
In a 2020 interview with the Christensen Institute, Masha disclosed that the company had raised a combination of equity, debt and grant funding through partnerships with development institutions and international foundations.
He also explained that Babban Gona achieved a positive EBITDA margin in its third farming season, in the 2015 financial year, followed by positive net income in 2016.
Recognition and Impact
Babban Gona’s approach has received international recognition. Under Masha’s leadership, the organisation became the first for-profit social enterprise to win the Skoll Award for Social Entrepreneurship in 2017.
The award recognised its approach to improving smallholder farming and creating economic opportunities for rural communities.
Its work has also attracted attention from international development and agricultural organisations interested in business models that combine commercial sustainability with measurable social impact.
In June 2026, Masha participated in an impact-investing discussion in Madrid, where he spoke about the organisation’s approach to scaling its operations while maintaining its focus on farmers.
The discussion highlighted the importance of financing, technology, training and market access in making smallholder agriculture more profitable.
Building Beyond Agriculture
For Masha, Babban Gona represents an approach to addressing challenges that extend beyond farming.
By making agriculture more commercially attractive, the organisation aims to create opportunities for young people, improve rural livelihoods and contribute to food security.
His journey from engineering and corporate leadership into agribusiness demonstrates how business models can be developed around problems that affect entire communities.
Through Babban Gona, Masha has built a business around the idea that smallholder farming can become more productive and commercially viable when farmers have access to the right financial and operational support.
REFERENCES
- CGAP – Kola Masha’s professional profile
- Babban Gona – Leadership and organisational profile
- Christensen Institute – Innovators Creating Prosperity: Babban Gona
- SpainNAB – Scaling Up Impact Investing: Lessons from Kola Masha and Babban Gona, June 2026
