On March 25, 2021, ISF Advisors hosted two webinars to discuss the findings and recommendations in their new report in collaboration with the Rural & Agricultural Finance Learning Lab, "Agricultural 'Platforms' in a Digital Era."

Digital platforms have transformed how the world shops, travels and communicates, fundamentally reshaping entire markets and in the process becoming some of the most valuable companies in history. Despite this, the rise of platform models in smallholder agricultural markets lags behind other sectors by up to two decades.

This new report makes the case that platforms have the potential to transform smallholder agriculture into a more inclusive, sustainable and commercially-viable endeavor, but there are significant potential negative risks to markets if platforms become too dominant in markets. Some of these risks are similar to those seen in the rise of platforms in other industries, while others are agriculture-specific. In the absence of a shared understanding around what constitutes a platform model, what type of platform works best in a given context and how platforms impact markets, it is likely that the potential of these models to positively transform smallholder agriculture will go unrealized.

With digital service provision in higher demand than ever before in the wake of COVID-19, ISF Advisors and the Rural & Agricultural Finance Learning Lab believe it's time to bring clarity to the agricultural sector around the promise and risks of platform development. 

Join the conversation

Download the full report, watch the webinar recordings and reading the research teams’ responses to audience questions — including those left unanswered during the live sessions — through the resource links in the sidebar on the right-hand side.