March 2021 agricultural “platforms” in a digital era

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MARCH 2021
AGRICULTURAL
“PLATFORMS” IN A DIGITAL ERA:
Defining the landscape 

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The authors would like to acknowledge and thank 
the primary sponsors of this work—Mastercard 
Foundation, USAID, and IDH The Sustainable
Trade Initiative—for their support.
This study was authored by Matt Shakhovskoy
and William Saab of ISF Advisors, and Clara Colina 
of Mastercard Foundation Rural and Agricultural 
Finance Learning Lab. Core research support was 
provided by Sommers Kline and Juan Jose Guzman 
of ISF Advisors with important expert contributions 
from Mikael Clason Höök of the Mastercard 
Foundation Rural and Agricultural Finance 
Learning Lab. Communications, production, and 
editorial leadership was provided by Meredith 
Husar with writing support from Kristin Williams 
and graphic design services by Mallory O’Conor. 
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive Summary
1. The rise of Platforms in smallholder-related agricultural markets
2. The potential of agricultural Platforms
3. Emerging types of agricultural Platforms
4. Evolving marketplace service delivery models and challenges
5. Transforming agricultural markets
6. The path ahead
Annex 
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Primary report sponsors
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In the last decade, Digital Platforms have transformed how the world shops, travels, eats, communicates, 
and is entertained. Platform models—such as Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, WhatsApp, Uber, and Airbnb—
have fundamentally reshaped markets. In the process, they have become some of the most valuable com-
panies in history. In fact, Platform models composed 60-70% of a recent list of 200 “unicorns” (start-ups 
with valuations of USD 1 billion or more) and net earnings of Platforms on the S&P 500 have grown 
nearly 20 times faster than the average.
Despite this, the rise of Platforms in smallholder agricultural markets lags behind that in other sectors by 
up to two decades. Early pioneers have garnered significant attention, but there remains limited under-
standing in the sector of what constitutes a Platform, with many using the word to describe a variety of 
different models. Despite this lack of shared definition, a number of donors are pursuing strategies to 
realize the promise of Platforms in the agricultural sector. This focus has only increased in the wake of the 
COVID-19 pandemic, with digital service provision seeing significant uptake across the globe. 
In this report, we examine the emergence of Platforms in smallholder-related agricultural markets in 
order to bring some clarity to the sector. This exercise has been more extensive and complex than much 
of our previous research, in large part because Digital Platforms are complex and come in many forms. 
This research required delving deeply into the dynamics of Platforms to establish a shared definition of 
the term, as well as analyzing decades of Platform experience in more developed markets and sectors.
The findings in this report have been heavily influenced by almost two decades of academic and business
research focused on Platform models and network effects. From this, we have extrapolated lessons to 
guide the early emergence of agricultural Platforms, including what challenges we can expect to emerge.
By making clear distinctions between different Platform models, this report clarifies an increasingly overused 
and ill-defined concept in agricultural development. We remain convinced that Platforms have the potential 
to transform smallholder agriculture into a more inclusive, sustainable, and commercially viable endeavor, 
and to greatly increase smallholder farmers’ access to products, services, information, and investment. 
At the same time, we believe it is necessary for donors, investors, researchers, and providers to approach 
the promise of Platform models with deeper understanding. This includes more specificity of language, 
better understanding of complex business models and the role of subsidy, and recognition of the potential 
negative impacts that can come from mis-managed Platform models. Our hope is that this report can help 
us collectively take that next step forward.