Smallholder farmers produce more than 70% of the world’s food, yet many fail to make ends meet. That’s because the majority of smallholder farmers lack direct access to markets and must rely on middlemen for everything from purchasing inputs to selling their yields at less than fair market prices.

A growing number of entrepreneurs are developing and delivering new technologies, innovations and business models—from improved seeds and mobile platforms to microloans and direct-purchasing programs— that can help smallholder farmers increase their incomes and work their way out of poverty.

We believe the pathway out of poverty for smallholder farmers is to invest in companies that 1) provide farmers access to better products that allow them to sustainably increase production and sell more crops, and 2) integrate farmers into global supply chains by enabling them to bypass middlemen and sell their products directly to buyers at fair market value.