Market landscape

Articles, academic studies, field learnings, and research about the landscape of actors and their invovlement in the smallholder and rural finance market. Information for market landscapes is often collected through extensive on-the-ground interviews and workshops.

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The Global Microscope assesses the enabling environment for financial inclusion across 5...

The MIX and One Acre Fund transfer the Smallholder Finance Product Explorer to the Mastercard Foundation RAF Learning Lab's Data Portal

News: The Mastercard Foundation Rural and Agricultural Finance Learning Lab is thrilled to take ownership of the Smallholder Finance Product Explorer, a project funded by the Mastercard Foundation & the Open Society Foundations, and implemented by One Acre Fund and MIX from 2016-2019. Integrating this dataset with the Lab’s current data platform will ensure users have easy access to a one-stop-shop for critical smallholder finance data.

The capital markets: An increasingly sophisticated market still grappling with the impact-return trade-off

Report: In a series of blogs, ISF Advisors and the RAF Learning Lab will introduce major concepts and frameworks that will anchor our upcoming State of the Sector report for rural finance. Building on the “industry model” developed in our 2016 Inflection Point report, these frameworks aim to bring further clarity and insight to the three layers of the market: Rural clients [1], financial service providers, and the capital markets. We hope that by sharing early versions of this thinking we can stimulate debate and discussion across the sector about what is needed to continue to enhance access to rural, agricultural financial services.

Interrelated Problems and Comprehensive Solutions for Venture Capital in African Agribusiness

Analysis: This paper explores why it’s been difficult to generate VC-level returns in agriculture, and some solutions that show promise.

Rural finance providers: A new segmentation for an expanding market

Report: In a series of blogs, ISF Advisors and the Mastercard Foundation Rural and Agricultural Finance Learning Lab (the Lab) will introduce major concepts and frameworks that will anchor our upcoming State of the Sector report for rural finance. Building on the “industry model” developed in our 2016 Inflection Point report, these frameworks aim to bring further clarity and insight to the three layers of the market: Rural clients, financial service providers (FSPs), and the capital markets. We hope that by sharing early versions of this thinking we can stimulate debate and discussion across the sector about what is needed to continue to enhance access to rural, agricultural financial services. 

Transition Pathways: A Dynamic View of How Rural Households Evolve

Analysis: In a series of blogs, ISF Advisors and the RAF Learning Lab will introduce major concepts and frameworks that will anchor our upcoming State of the Sector report for rural finance. Building on the “industry model” developed in our 2016 Inflection Point report, these frameworks aim to bring further clarity and insight to the three layers of the market: Rural clients, financial service providers, and the capital markets. We hope that by sharing early versions of this thinking we can stimulate debate and discussion across the sector about what is needed to continue to enhance access to rural, agricultural financial services.

Skills for success: FSP perspectives on business development support for smallholder finance

Analysis: The eleventh blog in the Pulse series aims to outline key insights from a recent ISF survey on the growing ecosystem of Business Development Services (BDS) to help financial service providers (FSPs) better reach smallholders.

The fund manager perspective: Moving the needle on inclusive agribusiness

Analysis: The fifteenth briefing note in a series from the Initiative for Smallholder Finance interrogate how different impact-oriented agribusiness funds combine public and private capital to build a more inclusive agricultural market.

Fund management and inclusive agribusiness: A global perspective

Analysis: Part 3 of ISF's and RAF Learning Lab's Pulse series shares a fund manager's perspective on inclusive agribusiness and fund management.

A 2016 Zambia ecosystem review & strategic perspective on digital financial services for smallholder farmers

Report: Mercy Corps' AFA program conducts country-level ecosystem reviews in coordination with its work to support the expansion of digital financial and non-financial services to smallholder farmers in Kenya, Tanzania, and Zambia. These analyses are published as white papers in the "Fertile Ground" series. This is the Zambia white paper.

2016 Tanzania Ecosystem Review & Strategic Perspective on Digital Financial Services for Smallholder Farmers

Report: Mercy Corps' AFA program conducts country-level ecosystem reviews in coordination with its work to support the expansion of digital financial and non-financial services to smallholder farmers in Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia. These analyses are published as white papers in the "Fertile Ground" series. This is the Tanzania white paper.

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