US-based MAO establishes a franchising structure to support a sustainable and integrated agricultural production and commercialization system. Under this system, farmers everywhere in Ghana will be licensed to:

• Acquire agricultural inputs, lease equipment, and source extension services from a one-stop mechanization center;
• Access irrigation from an irrigation center;
• Receive transportation services from a transportation center; and,
• Sell their crops to the MAO off-take, conditioning and distribution center to have access to the local, regional and international markets.

As in any franchise system, the franchisor, MAO Ghana, transfers the commercial risk and liability of investing onto the franchises; investors will purchase the exclusive rights and privilege to provide goods and services to the farmers, off-take their productions, promote and distribute them under the MAO trademarks.

Three levels of franchises will be established that will mirror the three levels of Ghana’s territorial sub-divisions: the state, the region and the districts. The district level franchises will be based on capacity of production of a given commodity.
The franchisor will have two sources of remunerations:

• A royalty for the use of the MAO trademark; and
• A reimbursement for technical assistance and advisory services provided to the franchise.

The duration of the franchise will be 5 years, divided into 5 yearly renewal periods. The franchise will serve a specific area, surrounding its location.

In addition to the three franchise entities, other outsourcing supporting companies services will be made available and an integral component of the franchisees operations, such as business operational and equipment insurances, affiliation of some developmental banks, the Grasshopper Communication Networks, meteorological services and lending recovery companies.

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