March 2021 agricultural “platforms” in a digital era

Figure 12: Market positioning of product and service marketplaces
Source: ISF Advisors and RAF Learning Lab analysis
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Different marketplaces facilitate different types 
of interactions, with farmers playing the role of 
producer or consumer (or both at the same time). 
Produce marketplaces operating downstream 
engage farmers as producers. Fragmented and 
sparsely distributed farmers are brought into 
one single Platform to sell their crops, fruits, 
vegetables, and livestock wholesale to local 
traders, agro-processors, and in some cases 
directly to consumers. Ag supplies and service-
only marketplaces, on the other hand, engage 
farmers as consumers. In these marketplaces, 
farmers can purchase inputs or insurance, rent 
tractors, or contract transportation services. 
Finally, within integrated service marketplaces, 
farmers are engaged as both producers and 
consumers, enabling various types of interactions 
in one single Platform. While integrated service 
marketplaces can address multiple market 
failures simultaneously, facilitating various 
types of interactions within one Platform creates 
unique operational complexities for the Platform 
operator. These intricacies can be challenging for 
many marketplaces that seek to operate under 
one brand and a single business model.
THE POPULARITY OF BUNDLING 
AND ONE-STOP SHOPS
Perhaps unsurprisingly, more than one-third of all 
product and service marketplaces we identified 
are either combined ag supplies and produce 
marketplaces (8 Platforms) or integrated farm 
services marketplaces (19 Platforms). Both 
categories focus on interactions both to and from 
the farm—products and services go to the farmer 
and market access for farm produce is available at 
harvest time.
A majority of smallholder farmers lack—and 
urgently need—access to a comprehensive 
package of both products and services that enable 
them to increase productivity (e.g., through inputs, 
often on credit, and/or mechanization services) 
and to translate these productivity gains into 
increased income (e.g., by accessing markets 
and better prices). This need for broader, more 
holistic smallholder farmer support has been well 
documented in previous ISF and RAF Learning 
Lab research, including our latest state of the 
sector report, Pathways to Prosperity.
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Providing 
a “one-stop shop” featuring holistic services may 
also strengthen the impact case and, therefore, the 
value proposition of these Platforms. This could 
increase business model sustainability through 
cross-subsidization of lower-margin services—for 
example, inputs—with higher-margin activities 
like produce brokering. As marketplaces continue 
to evolve their offerings in the agricultural market, 
we expect more bundling of complementary or 
enabling services within a single Platform. 
17
ISF Advisors and Mastercard Foundation Rural and Agricultural Finance Learning Lab (2019). Pathways to Prosperity. 
pathways.raflearning.org/
.