finance

The Smallholder Diaries (PDF) provide a deep view of how smallholders are affected by the agricultural cycle and manage their money in response to its ebbs and flows, as well as point to ways that financial service providers might better meet smallholders’ needs. »

This webinar by the Impact Insurance Facility looked at how governments can catalyse the development of agriculture insurance markets through a variety of interventions such as the provision, administration and management of subsidies, support for developing infrastructure for effective implementation of insurance programmes, investment in collection and sharing of data and customer education. »

This report by the Evans School Policy Analysis and Research Group (EPAR) and commissioned The Rural and Agricultural Finance Learning Lab, reviews and summarizes the existing evidence on the impact of access to financial services/products on measures of production, income and wealth, consumption and food security, and resilience for smallholder farmers and other rural customers and their households in Sub-Saharan Africa. This study covers four main types of financial products/services: 1) credit; 2) savings; 3) insurance; and 4) mobile money and digital products. »

This report (PDF) by Farm Africa, highlights how support to small and medium agriculture businesses is key to driving rural economic development in East Africa. These ‘first mile’ businesses play a vital role in connecting small-scale farming to wider markets by buying their produce or supplying goods to them. This report maps the various financial instruments that should be provided for agricultural SMEs’ needs, enabling them to grow. »

A new report published by CGAP presents insights in how digital financial services (DFS) can work for smallholders. Digital tools offer great opportunities for the world’s 450 million smallholder families, but cannot replace personal support, according to the new human-centered design research. Recognizing the need for DFS that better respond to smallholder demand, CGAP partnered in early 2015 with a financial service provider (FSP) in each of Zimbabwe, Senegal, Rwanda, and Cambodia to design a new generation of smallholder-specific digital financial products and services. Under the guidance and expertise of two human-centered design (HCD) firms, CGAP and its FSP partners worked to explore, create, evolve, and test possible digital solutions for smallholder families. »

This toolkit by IFC introduces and explains step by step the key elements of success for financial institutions (FIs) to expand financial services to farmers. The guide includes advice on each step involved and tips on how to address the complex challenges that might arise during product development process. »