Results from a recent survey in Kenya question the impact of flexible loan terms on how much credit smallholder farmers take up. But the issue may be that loans were still not flexible enough.

Without more support, the global health crisis could become a global food crisis

European Microfinance Award winner, APA Insurance, is working with Kenyan smallholders to help them build resilience to the effects of climate change such as droughts and flooding.

Jean-Marc Debricon of Alterfin discusses impact investing in rural Africa as the region prepares for African Microfinance Week. Held in Burkina Faso from 21 to 25 October 2019, this major regional conference provides a unified African platform for discussion of microfinance issues. ​

Leading microinsurance providers discuss how to solve issues with distribution, the multitude of risks farmers face and uptake.

While the financial inclusion sector has changed drastically over the last twenty years, a familiar challenge has returned: information asymmetry. So MIX’s strategic shifts to refocus on data initiatives in fintech, digital and agricultural finance - and other frontier sectors to come - are a welcome development for the entire financial inclusion community.

By overlooking investment opportunities in smallholder finance in favor of serving less risky client segments that are easier to reach, investors are missing out on one of the greatest impact opportunities in financial inclusion today. What can financial service providers and investors do about it?

Albert Sie Dah, Farm Operations Manager of Advans Côte d’Ivoire, talks about how they have succeeded in serving farmers and their children with a combination of high tech and high touch.

The A-Card is a new business model helping smallholders in Bangladesh gain access to finance through a digitized four-way linkage between farmers, banks, MFIs and agricultural input retailers. CARE shares how it works and their lessons learned. 

Agriculture has not been an easy nut to crack for the microfinance industry. While small family farms are the basis of agricultural production in developing countries, this sector faces many challenges, especially funding. Funders can help to find better pathways to reach small farmers.