Mastercard and Ecobank Group have partnered to help African farmers achieve better profits from their harvests through the provision of digital marketing solutions.
The partnership looks to help smallholder farmers on the continent connect to Mastercard’s Farm Pass – a digital platform that eases farmers’ sales of their produce.
The new agreement will see Ecobank leverage on its extensive African reach across 33 countries to bring more farmers on board.
African farmers typically face challenges in selling their products after harvest with a good amount lost to lack of storage and inability to access thriving market.
The lack of working capital for these farmers, insecurity, inefficient management, and the absence of relevant financial tools to trade their produce with has ensured many farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa struggle to get by.
Mastercard’s Farm Pass is believed to connect the suppliers to those making demands and with Ecobank’s presence across 33 African countries, more smallholder farmers are expected to be reached.
More than 60% of Africa’s population engage in smallholding farming and at least 23% of the continent’s GDP comes from farming. This comes laboriously however, as just 3% of the farmers, according to McKinsey get credits for their farming, further limiting their access to major markets.
“Mastercard and Ecobank Group will deploy Mastercard Farm Pass, an award-winning, innovative solution that helps connect smallholder farmers to financial and agricultural ecosystems” Ade Adeyemi, Ecobank CEO said.
“Food security is a critical and urgent need in these times. We must therefore rise to the task by creating growth opportunities across the agriculture value chain in Africa. Our partnership with Mastercard has come at the right time to accelerate smallholder farmers’ access to urgently needed financial services, which are vital to realising Africa’s full agricultural potential. It will also help deliver value across the farming and agricultural value chain to make farming in Africa more profitable, competitive, and resilient, thus contributing to the economic growth of the continent,”
Michael Froman, Vice Chairman and President, Strategic Growth at Mastercard said the programme will offer economic solutions that are inclusive.
“When we empower people, we can power economies and support economic growth that is truly inclusive. Mastercard Farm Pass contributes to this by offering a digital platform that makes it easier for smallholder farmers to move from subsistence to commercial farming. This, in turn, will stimulate agricultural growth, increase competitiveness, and improve food security in Africa. Through close collaborations with important partners like Ecobank, we can create even more impact, putting the digital economy to work for everyone, everywhere,”
“Mastercard Farm Pass will be rolled out leveraging the 33 countries where Ecobank has banking operations, helping millions of smallholder farmers gain digital access to markets, quality inputs, financial services, and real-time pricing information”
Mastercard’s Farm Pass has reached more than one million smallholder farmers mainly in East African countries – Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and has helped farmers sell at better prices and improve yields.