While they produce about a third of what we eat, the world’s smallholder farmers have long struggled to secure loans. That, though, is changing. Thanks to a “boots-on-the ground” approach and the use of technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, new lending models are being developed that can expand rural access to finance.
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AI and space technology boost smallholders’ access to finance
“When we got started, one of the things we noted was that even well-intentioned microfinance banks weren’t lending at any volume to small-scale farmers,” says Eli Pollak, chief executive of Apollo Agriculture, a Kenya-based agritech company. “Fundamentally, their cost structures are suited for a much larger customer.”
