MasterCard and Ecobank group have partnered to connect millions of smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa to Mastercard farm pass, a digital platform that will enable farmers to easily connect with agricultural sectors and also sell their farm produce at a fair price.
Both partners will deploy MasterCard farm pass to smallholder farmers to connect them to the financial and agricultural ecosystems. This farm pass will bring together various agric-sector stakeholders from the supply and demand sides, in one agricultural marketplace which will amplify the collective positive impact on farming.
With the Mastercard farm pass, smallholder farmers can get to sell their produce at better prices, access quality inputs, get updated on the latest farming information, and pay digitally as well as get paid. It will enable them to create a profile that will unlock financing opportunities, for both working and capital input.
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The Mastercard farm pass will also enable smallholder farmers to integrate their businesses with payment systems, as well as enable them to build a digital transaction record that can facilitate formal credit or other financial services from banks and other financial institutions.
This is a very good initiative that has been rolled out, because it will offer these smallholder farmers a major digital boost. Looking at how most African countries are faced with severe hunger and food insecurity due to the poor agricultural sector, unfavorable climatic conditions, and also the impact of the Russian-Ukraine war.
The African region is said to be the worst hit from the war, which has seen the region faced with severe famine and hunger. Due to its heavy reliance on import-based commodities, such an approach has affected food security in the region. MasterCard farm pass comes in very handy this period, because food security in these African regions is critical and needs urgent attention to help alleviate the plight of the citizens of these regions.
Many smallholder farmers are faced with a lot of challenges that stifle their growth as well as limit their production output. Some of these challenges are; Lack of access to relevant financial tools to purchase and also get paid, limited access to the market, lack of up-to-date information, the problem of securing quality inputs, lack of working capital to finance farming activities, etc.
All these challenges aforementioned are no doubt limiting smallholder farmers, which has greatly affected their production output, led to inefficiencies, waste of resources which has prevented them from running a sustainable agricultural business.
With Mastercard farm pass, it will eliminate most challenges these farmers are faced with, which will improve the agricultural value chain in Africa to ensure that there is food security in the region. This will also help them to become less dependent on other countries for food commodities, also contributing to the economic growth of the continent.
These smallholder farmers can also upgrade from operations of small-scale farming to running commercial farming. Recall that the African Development bank AFDB through its president Mr. Akinwunmi Adesina suggested the e-wallet system to enable farmers to get direct access to farm loans and other support, which will also eliminate corrupt middlemen.
The Mastercard farm pass is very similar to the e-wallet system as they both have similar features with the same motive of ensuring that smallholder farmers get access to markets, updated news, and financial supplies.
The African region needs a transformation in its agricultural sector because food security is a critical issue in the region. Food insecurity in the region is one of the major causes of infant and adult mortality, childhood illnesses, Malnutrition, etc.
One key cause of all these has been linked to inadequate food production in the region. With Mastercard farm pass, I believe this initiative will aid in the increase of food production in the region, which will not only eliminate famine and ensure food security, but will ensure that the African region is immune to hunger.