Direct-to-Farmer Finance: Innovation Spaces Playbook

Through a collaborative research, design, and ideation process involving farmers, donors, finance providers, and more, the Initiative for Smallholder Finance has identified five opportunities for direct-to-farmer finance innovation. Each of the innovation spaces below suggests compelling new ways that direct-to-farmer finance providers can build off current experimentation in the sector to better serve smallholder farmers:

• Infield efficiency;
• Agronomic learning;
• Credit assessment;
• Portfolio diversification;
• Individual motivation.

This playbook introduces each innovation opportunity, provides a snapshot of current experimentation underway, and suggests concrete examples of new product, service, and strategy ideas.