Providing Financial Solutions

In order to provide effective financial solutions we must understand the key enablers to business model sustainability. This includes fostering progressive partnerships, leveraging the role of non-financial institutons, offering technical assistance, and the willingness to learn from failure. This primary topic area includes sub-topics like credit assessment, big data, insurance, and digital finacial services.

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Digital Financial Services

Innovation

Evidence on Impact

Metrics

Lights to legumes: How M-KOPA leverages solar home systems for agricultural finance opportunities

Spotlight:

M-KOPA, a winner of the 2015 FRP Scaling Competition, has taken a leadership role in Solar Home System financing. Read more to learn how M-KOPA is expanding its business model to address rural farmers’ needs through innovative financing options.

New IIF and CFI Accion report explores how commercial banks are influencing financial inclusion in emerging markets

Report: IIF and CFI Accion’s recently published report, “The Business of Financial Inclusion: Insights from Banks in Emerging Markets” digs into commercial banks and the role of digital technology in the emerging market, a concept the Lab is currently looking into for the RAF space.

From urban to rural communities: Applying CGAP's customer experience playbook to rural clients

Tool: CGAP recently published a Customer Experience Playbook to help FSPs increase uptake and usage among low-income customers. Although the CX Playbook is targeted at urban clients we think there are many valuable lessons that can be applied to rural communities as well.

Analyzing applications from the first FRP Scaling Competition

Analysis: The Learning Lab analyzes applications from the first Scaling Competition of The MasterCard Foundation Fund for Rural Prosperity. Findings confirm key trends from the first Innovation Challenge and identify new trends around bundled service offerings and digital solutions.

Open data platform launched with Smallholder Financial Solutions dataset

News: I'm excited to let our users know that we have now publicly launched our open data portal. The inaugural dataset, Smallholder Financial Solutions (beta version) provides details of nearly 800 existing financial solutions (including provider and partners, products and business model) targeting smallholder farmers in developing countries worldwide.

Engaging conversations from State of Smallholder Finance

News: A diverse crowd of industry stakeholders gathered at the May 5 State of Smallholder Finance event to discuss findings from the landmark report, Inflection Point.

The need for weather index insurance: What do farmers really want?

Report: ATAI's latest policy bulletin, Making It Rain, reviews 10 randomized evaluations of weather index insurance. The study shed light on the barriers around uptake and usability for weather index insurance. Their findings are consistent with the market trends we are witnessing as well as our own broader call to action in this space.

From CGAP's smallholder financial diaries to unlocking growth in financial solutions

Report: CGAP's recent study, Smallholder Diaries, offers valuable insights into smallholder financing needs and supports the broader case for customer centricity to unlock growth in financial solutions.

Kiva Labs' approach to financing agriculture

Community: We're excited to have Kiva Labs on board as a new Learning Lab partner. Learn how Kiva Labs uses its crowd-sourced capital model to address constraints to smallholder financing.

Using agri-finance to boost staples-led agriculture transformation

Report: In a market analysis for AGRA, Dalberg sheds light on the financial sector’s service of smallholders in Kenya, Tanzania, and Ghana, and identifies opportunities for progressive partnerships between formal and non-formal financial service providers, including value chain actors. The analysis also looks at the role of ICT solutions to increase impact. AGRA is a Learning Lab partner, committed to sharing knowledge that will build the industry.

Putting farmers first: One Acre Fund's 2015 annual report

Report: The One Acre Fund 2015 Annual Report provides an overview of the organization's progress, forward-looking strategies, and new initiatives. Beginning with an opening letter from the Executive and Managing Directors, the report walks through One Acre's scaling progress and strategy, their impact for 2015, new country expansion opportunities, and stories from the farmers themselves.

Inflection Point: Unlocking growth in the era of farmer finance

Report: In partnership with the Initiative for Smallholder Finance, we at the Rural and Agricultural Finance Learning Lab are excited to announce the release of our newest landmark study, Inflection Point: Unlocking growth in the era of farmer finance.