By Busani Bafana

A Jamaican start-up has an innovative solution to help smallholder farmers—many of whom do not have the collateral demanded by financial institutions to access loans—build a track record of their production that is proving better than collateral.

FarmCredibly creates a record for farmers based on their production and they do not even need to leave the work on their farms to create this, founder Varun Baker tells IPS.

Did you know that 86% of farmers in Jamaica are underbanked and cannot access capital to finance their farms?

In Jamaica, finance in agriculture is a US$135 million dollar opportunity in Jamaica alone and worldwide we are talking about billions. Farm Credibly is a service provider that connects lenders and individual investors to farmer profiles that are creditworthy. We leverage blockchain technology to build credible profiles of our farmers based on the strength of their business network.

A few years ago, as the co-owner of a direct-market vegetable farm, my life revolved around harvests and freeze dates, farmers’ market sales and enrolment numbers for our Community Supported Agriculture programme. I saw the great parts of the local food movement, but I also saw the holes – restaurateurs who promised to buy regularly, but rarely did; chefs who ordered only twice a year, but continued to claim products on their menus; farmers’ market vendors selling tropical produce in my arid part of North America.

How it Works

Farm Credibly simplifies financial services for underbanked farmers who are productive but want to be more productive. We bring together multiple entities within farmers’ business network on behalf of farmers. By getting data from suppliers and distributors, a trusted and secure farmer profile is established. FarmCredibly empowers creditors with the means to reduce risk in issuing loans and insurance to unbanked farmers by leveraging Blockchain technology to provide alternative credit scoring.

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