Improving lives of small farmers
- How to improve productivity and sustainability of small farmers'?
- How to cost-effectively support thousands of small holder farmers?
- How do you ensure farmers stay loyal?
Hystra offers answers to these questions based on rigorous analysis of 15 successful organizations worldwide working with tens of thousands of small farmers.
The study pins down 13 deep, if not counter-intuitive insights on creating more wealth along the value chain, running cost-efficient operations and sharing value back with farmers sustainably.
For instance, contrary to the belief that only larger farms can be attractive business partners, the study demonstrates that some companies manage to increase their margins significantly when they start working with smaller farmers, along with diversifying their supply sources – a long-term competitive advantage.
Another chapter highlights how investing into farmers’ productivity, notably by transferring new technologies, can result in farmers’ doubling their net incomes in a year. Such investments seem to bring systematically more value to farmers than interventions that seek to redistribute wealth along the value chain (e.g., by removing linking farmers to markets, or providing higher prices to farmers).
The study also explains why farmers show so little interest in buying insurances against adverse events, even though they are often coined as ‘extremely risk averse’. And it gives insights on how to ensure farmers get insured nevertheless.
Lastly, the report details how to better execute smallholder farmers’ programs at lower costs. It closes by questioning the ability of cooperatives to bring more and better financial benefits to farmers.
Entrepreneurial Leader | Expert in Strategy, Business Development & Social Impact | 30+ Years Driving Growth in Clean Energy, Conservation & Global Partnerships | Award-Winning Author & Public Speaker
9yNice post, Olivier. I'm reminded of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Ashoka collaboration around smallholder farmers that we developed several years ago. Do you know what were the outcomes of that collaboration?
Managing Partner at Tioga Venture
9yA lot of insights. Great!