The Chithumba Model: Combining Pre-Harvest Financing, GAP Training, and Access to Markets for Smallholder Farmers in Malawi

  • Partner: Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA), International Development Research Centre (IDRC)
  • Publication Type: Brief
  • Date: December 2019

MarketShare Associates (MSA) was engaged as MEDA’s learning partner on INNOVATE and produced a series of briefs highlighting key results and insights from the research portfolio assessing the potential of non-traditional finance to stimulate agricultural innovation adoption among smallholder farmers in South Asia, South America and East Africa. MSA produced this brief summarizing findings from the case study conducted by Agronomy Technology Limited (ATL) titled: “A Case Study of the Chithumba Model: a non-traditional finance mechanism to improve access to farm inputs in Malawi”. The briefoutlines the Chithumba bundled services model that includes loans, inputs, Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) training, and marketing services. The brief also highlights recommendations for agri-inputs credit issuers, implementing organizations, and agribusinesses.

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Redefining Finance for Agriculture: Green Agricultural Credit for Smallholders in Peru

  • Partner: Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA), International Development Research Centre (IDRC)
  • Publication Type: Brief
  • Date: December 2019

MarketShare Associates (MSA) was engaged as MEDA’s learning partner on INNOVATE, and produced a series of briefs highlighting key results and learnings from the research portfolio assessing the potential of non-traditional finance to stimulate agricultural innovation adoption among smallholder farmers in South Asia, South America and East Africa. MSA produced this brief summarizing key findings and recommendations for government actors and financial institutions from the case study conducted by Global Canopy on “Redefining Finance for Agriculture: Green Agricultural Credit for Smallholders in Peru”.

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Smallholders as Customers, Not Pupils: Making the Case for Good Agricultural Practices

  • Partner: Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA), International Development Research Centre (IDRC)
  • Publication Type: Blog
  • Date: November 12, 2019

With the growing prevalence of Good Agricultural Practices (GAP) requirements, smallholder farmers face a business investment decision involving substantial risk and complexity. This blog post, co-authored by MSA as learning partner of the MEDA INNOVATE initiative, makes the case for embracing a business orientation in GAP promotion and provides recommendations for taking a customer-centric approach to engaging smallholder farmers.

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