Mastercard Farm Pass, an award-winning, innovative solution that connects smallholder farmers to financial and agricultural ecosystems, will be deployed by Mastercard and Ecobank Group.
Mastercard Farm Pass will be launched in 33 countries where Ecobank has banking operations, enabling millions of smallholder farmers to get digital access to markets, high-quality inputs, financial services, and real-time pricing information.
Millions of smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa will be connected to Mastercard’s Farm Pass, a digital platform that makes it safer and easier for farmers to sell their produce at a fair price, thanks to a partnership between Mastercard and Ecobank Group.
Ecobank will use its Pan-African network of 33 nations to expand the reach and impact of the Mastercard Farm Pass platform as part of the agreement.
Several issues confront many smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa. Limited access to markets, insufficient capital to fund activities or acquire high-quality inputs, and inappropriate financial tools to pay and be paid efficiently are just a few examples. Insecurity, inefficiency, and waste of resources and food have resulted, making it impossible for farmers to run sustainable operations.
Farm Pass brings together various agri-sector stakeholders from both the supply and demand sides in one agricultural marketplace, enhancing the positive impact on farming communities as a whole. Smallholder farmers can sell their produce for a higher price, have access to high-quality inputs and farming information, get paid and pay digitally, and build a financial profile that can lead to working capital and input financing.
“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 realizing 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,” says Ade Ayeyemi, CEO of Ecobank Group.
“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,” says Michael Froman, Vice Chairman and President, Strategic Growth at Mastercard.
“The Mastercard Farm Pass collaboration with Ecobank Group fits well with the intent of the African Development Banks’s recently approved Africa Emergency Food Production Facility (AEFPF), which is to support countries to boost production and productivity on the continent for key staples. One of the key activities of AEFPF is to connect farmers through e-wallet systems, i.e. digitizing the procurement of agro inputs and at the same time allowing for reaching farmers in a transparent manner, which will truly revolutionize the transformation of agriculture,” says Solomon Quaynor, Vice President for Private Sector, Infrastructure and Industrialization, African Development Bank Group.