Learning brief 5: Big data could mean big opportunity: Why we should stay excited for data analytics in smallholder finance
26 Sep 2018
Learning Lab, Dalberg Global Development Advisors
Numbers

The fifth Learning Brief in the Lab’s research series, this brief aims to provide a high level understanding of how data analytics is used for smallholder farmers, introduce a new framework to understand the economics of data analytic investments, and highlight key innovators in the space.

DOWNLOAD THE FULL BRIEF

With a USD 150 billion smallholder finance gap, the use of data analytics could be the game change we need to serve smallholders profitably and at scale. And while early signs are promising, there is still a lot of work to be done. To bring data analytics to the next level, it will require a concerted effort from all players. Financial service providers and digital service providers will need to work together on a commercial scale to prove the business case and develop blueprints of success. Meanwhile, donors and investors will need to continue funding more and better innovative solutions to increase the possibility of innovation.

To learn more about the opportunities for data analytics in smallholder finance, download the full brief below.

To understand the return on investment (ROI) on data analytic investments, download the excel tool below. 

...
READ MORE

Protecting growing prosperity: Agricultural insurance in the developing world
17 Sep 2018
ISF Advisors
Farmland aerial

A new landscape report by ISF Advisors, with support from the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, highlights the current status and future development of agricultural insurance for smallholder farmers. Based on interviews with more than forty-five key agricultural insurance stakeholders, our research paints a picture of an industry that shows great potential but struggles to achieve the necessary scale and product-level refinements.  

DOWNLOAD THE FULL REPORT

In the past ten years, the field of smallholder finance has grown in both size and complexity. As new players and products have entered the market around the world, there is an ever-present need to understand the many innovative business models and product classes that are developing to support smallholder farmers in their quest for economic advancement.


One of these emerging product classes is agricultural insurance in developing nations. Historically, smallholders have had limited access to risk-management options, but increasingly, formalized agricultural insurance is offering...

READ MORE

ICCO STARS Burkina Faso Credit Pilot Deep Dive Study
10 Aug 2018
ICCO Cooperation

The Strengthening African Rural Smallholders (STARS) program, a five year initiative of ICCO Cooperation and in partnership with The Mastercard Foundation,  aims to transform the lives of 210,000 farmers, 50% of them are women, in Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Senegal and will have an overall impact in the lives of over 1 million people.

To inform their work ICCO recently published a Credit Pilot Deep Dive (CPDD) which investigates differences in the uptake and impact of newly developed agricultural credit products on smallholder farmers in Burkina Faso Using a mixed quantitative and qualitative approach, based on household survey triangulated with focus group discussions (FSG), this study aims to provide the STARS program, and participating MFIs, an enhanced understanding of their client base.

More specifically, the Burkina Faso CPDD study provides a deeper understanding of the 50,500 (50% women) smallholder farmers, and their households, in the STARS Burkina Faso program. This CPDD study focuses on two main zones and credit products, namely sesame loans in the Banfora area and soy loans in the Pô area. The participating farmers have been categorized in groups, namely farmers who have applied for and...

READ MORE

Featured Posts

Numbers

Learning brief 5: Big data could mean big opportunity: Why we should stay excited for data analytics in smallholder finance

Analysis: The fifth Learning Brief in the Lab’s research series, this brief aims to provide a high level understanding of how data analytics is used for smallholder farmers, introduce a new framework to understand the economics of data analytic investments, and highlight key innovators in the space.
Farmland aerial

Protecting growing prosperity: Agricultural insurance in the developing world

Report: A new landscape report by ISF Advisors, with support from the Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, highlights the current status and future development of agricultural insurance for smallholder farmers. Based on interviews with more than forty-five key agricultural insurance stakeholders, our research paints a picture of an industry that shows great potential but struggles to achieve the necessary scale and product-level refinements.
Photo

In smallholder finance, big learnings start with sharing real failures

Spotlight: Closing the USD 150 billion smallholder finance is no easy feat – but it is possible. With 450 million smallholders worldwide, key stakeholders such as financial and digital service providers, will need to develop new solutions and scale existing ones to help close the gap.