IFC and Kifiya Partner to Deliver Digital Financial Services to Ethiopian Farmers

The IFC and Kifiya Financial Technology have partnered to provide digital financial services to one million Ethiopian smallholder farmers with an estimated budget of $900,000. The initiative will enhance cash transactions and map farmers digitally by June 2027, while aligning with Ethiopia’s Digital Agriculture Roadmap. It is expected to significantly improve farmers’ livelihoods and agricultural productivity.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Kifiya Financial Technology have established a partnership aimed at delivering digital financial services to one million smallholder farmers in Ethiopia. The initiative, backed by a budget of $900,000, will strive to enhance cash transaction capabilities and to digitally map and profile farmers across key regions by June 2027.

This program aligns with the Ethiopian government’s Digital Agriculture Roadmap, which seeks to implement digital tools throughout the agricultural value chain. “By leveraging Kifiya’s technology and deep market expertise, this initiative will unlock financial opportunities for smallholder farmers, enabling them to thrive in today’s digital-first economy,” stated Munir Mohammed Duri, CEO of Kifiya.

Kifiya has previously advanced AI technologies to facilitate uncollateralized loans for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and develop digital agriculture solutions. Paula Maria Leynes Felipe, IFC Regional Manager for Eastern and Southern Africa, remarked, “This partnership marks a significant step towards the digital transformation of Ethiopia’s agricultural sector, promising to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers.”

The Ethiopian Digital Agriculture Roadmap, revealed in February, emphasizes three core elements over the next seven years: agricultural intelligence, the Digital Stack, and fostering an enabling environment. Initial objectives include enhancing financial access through data sharing for lenders and insurance providers, alongside timely agricultural interventions.

This Digitizing Smallholder Farmers initiative is not the only recent effort to digitize the sector. In 2023, Agritech startup Lersha partnered with the Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Institute to provide digital solutions to one million farmers, creating profiles and frameworks for digital agricultural services targeting various commodities.

In conclusion, the partnership between the IFC and Kifiya represents a pioneering step towards digitizing the agricultural sector in Ethiopia, aiming to benefit one million smallholder farmers. This initiative is poised to enhance financial inclusion, productivity, and overall livelihoods in alignment with the government’s transformative roadmap for digital agriculture.

Original Source: shega.co