Insights
Closing gender gaps in the agricultural value chain
Women farmers make up half of the agricultural workforce in East Africa. Yet they rarely have equal access to the opportunities and assets men can access to maximize their productivity and improve their lives. Digital technologies can be transformative in bridging the gender gaps across agricultural value chains and making progress toward achieving gender equality.
Acting on the Unknown: The Missing Data in Digital Agriculture
We have been working to advance the use of digital technologies in agriculture since our founding. Over the years, and still this year, we continue to confront a gap in current data on smallholder farmers and the organizations that serve them — a gap that makes program design exceedingly challenging. What impact does this lack of data have on products and services designed for smallholder farmers, and what could be a potential remedy?
Agent Network Strengthening for USAID
Over the past six years, SIA has supported USAID in advancing digital financial services market systems in countries where USAID works through the Agent Network Strengthening (ePayments) Program (ANSP). In the final report, we reflect on our work and the impact it has had in building capabilities across the DFS ecosystem.
Reflections on the 2021 Global Findex
In June, the World Bank released its latest update of the Global Findex Database since 2017. Truly remarkable global gains have been made over the past decade. We also need to keep working. Here are our reflections on the latest dataset, and what we’re doing to address the most persistent barriers and gaps that remain.
Supporting the smallholder farmer’s journey to digital financial inclusion
We partnered with TNM Mpamba, Mwandama Union Cooperative, and National Agriculture Smallholder Farmers Association of Malawi (NASFAM) in the pilot implementation of a digital financial Rural Stimulating Campaign in the Zomba district of Malawi. Here’s how it went.
In Uganda, can cows help close the credit gap?
Around 1.4 million Ugandan households rely on cows for income, milk, and draft power. But that’s not all: Cows can also act as a form of savings and insurance. In late 2020, SIA helped FSDU explore the possibility of creating digital profiles of each farmer and their cattle to help streamline the registration process in the movable asset registry.
Making mobile phones affordable in Malawi
Cell phone ownership is by no means universal around the world, so it is crucial we find ways to make phones more affordable. In our line of work — digital development — we are pretty much out of luck if the populations we are trying to reach don’t have access to a phone.
‘I’ll buy eight tomatoes — I’m paying with mobile money’
Convincing agri-enterprises that sell inputs to, or buy crops from, rural communities to embrace digital payments is seen as a potential path to de-throning cash — the undisputed king of commerce in emerging markets.