Donor funding pressures put digital services for smallholder farmers at risk
Originally published by News – Capital FM — Read the original article →
NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 27— Digital agriculture programmes face a sustainability test as development funding comes under pressure, prompting calls for new financing models to keep services accessible to millions of smallholder farmers beyond donor-funded projects.
Agriculture stakeholders at the 10th AgriFin Learning Event in Nairobi on Tuesday said digital platforms that provide farm advice, weather information and financial services must develop viable business models to survive beyond the lifespan of individual programmes.
The discussions come as Prosper Global AgriFin reports reaching more than 8.5 million smallholder farmers through digital information services, surpassing its target of five million, with women accounting for 41 per cent of those reached.
