Access via sign-up on the event app or by invitation only. English-French-Portuguese translation available.
African financial institutions have long seen agricultural lending as high-risk, costly and hard to scale, leaving millions of smallholder farmers without affordable credit. A new generation of agtech “smart aggregators” is changing the equation. These platforms combine farmer and crop identification, technical assistance, input financing and structured market access, and map plots with satellite, drone and in-field sensor data. The result is a set of digital farmer profiles, with verified land, yield, input and delivery records, that can serve as credit-relevant evidence. Agtech innovators, lenders, investors and development partners discuss what it will take to move from promising pilots to an agricultural asset class able to attract commercial capital, reduce lending risks, expand financial inclusion and deliver sustainable income growth for smallholders.
Key points:
- Can agtech data, farmer aggregation and structured value chains turn smallholder agriculture into an investable asset class for banks and investors?
- How can agtech firms use digital farmer profiles, remote sensing and structured repayment mechanisms to act as trusted intermediaries and cut the cost and risk of agricultural lending?
- What mix of guarantees, insurance and risk-sharing facilities is needed to crowd commercial capital into agricultural markets?