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The MasterCard Foundation has partnered with three global organisations working with African smallholders to improve productivity and market access for farmers in 11 African countries. The three organisations are Africa Agriculture Development Company (AgDevCo), a UK social impact investor and agribusiness project developer; Root Capital, a US-headquartered agricultural impact investor; and ICCO Cooperation, a Dutch organisation working to secure sustainable livelihoods as well as justice and dignity for all.

According to a statement released on Monday, the three organisations are expanding their support to improve the lives of a minimum of 1.1 million farmers in 11 countries: Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia. MasterCard Foundation said it has committed a total of $38.3 million to AgDevCo, ICCO Cooperation, and Root Capital for various programmes in those 11 African countries.

"Smallholder farmers in Africa, need special attention to increase productivity and break out of their subsistence operation," said Ann Miles, Director of Financial Inclusion at The MasterCard Foundation. "We're proud to work with such strong partners as AgDevCo, ICCO Cooperation, and Root Capital to enable smallholders to produce more, sell better, and work with local organisations in markets that are fair, transparent, and sustainable."

Some of the activities of the organisations being supported by MasterCard Foundation include providing training and better quality inputs to farmers; implementing mobile technology solutions; brokering long-term purchase contracts; supporting high-impact, early-stage agricultural businesses with capital needs under $150,000 and/or business revenues under $300,000; developing and implementing innovative risk-mitigation tools; and developing new agricultural finance products and services for smallholder farmers.

At a one-day workshop and learning event in Dakar, the partners outlined how the work they are conducting has so far led to improvements for farmers in Africa. ICCO Cooperation used the occasion to launch its STARS (Strengthening African Rural Smallholders) programme in Senegal, after recent launches in Rwanda, Ethiopia, and Burkina Faso.

"The STARS programme is supporting rural smallholder farmers, mostly women, to access tailor made financial services," said Netlyn Bernard, STARS Director. "We are using the "Making Markets Work for the Poor" (M4P) approach to ensure that through capacity building and access to finance they can adopt sustainable agri-business methods and be competitive in the market.”

Chris Isaac, Director of Investments at AgDevCo stated that linking smallholder farmers to profitable markets is one of the best ways of lifting large numbers of people out of poverty. Acting General Manager for Root Capital in West Africa, Mireille William, said the organisation was committed to providing these high-impact businesses with the capital and training they need to become engines of impact in their communities.

The MasterCard Foundation said it has committed more than $300 million to support various agricultural initiatives – including those under this partnership – in Africa.