Smallholder farmers produce more than 70% of the world’s food, yet many fail to make ends meet
We provide farmers with access to services and products that improve productivity, income and access to markets
Investment Sector: Agriculture
OUR APPROACH
The Problem
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.
The Opportunity
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.
The Solution
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.
OUR IMPACT IN AGRICULTURE
INVESTED IN
AG COMPANIES
LIVES IMPACTED
Growing Prosperity: Developing Repeatable Models to Scale the Adoption of Agricultural Innovations
In this report, Acumen and Bain & Company unveil how social enterprises can find new, effective ways to profitably serve hard-to-reach rural customers at scale.