March 2021 agricultural “platforms” in a digital era

Payment Platforms
As discussed in Section 2, there has been a rapid 
increase over the last five years in the rural 
penetration of digital payments. This increase has 
often been driven by the expansion of existing 
sector-agnostic Platforms, such as mobile money 
services, into smallholder markets. Payment 
Platforms are most often integrated into both 
pipeline and Platform businesses, with users 
rarely realizing that they are engaging with two 
different organizations. For example, mPesa is 
used for financial transactions made through the 
DigiFarm Platform, which is run by Safaricom 
in Kenya. Similarly, both BigHaat (India) and 
Agrofy (several Latin American countries) use 
third-party digital finance solutions to facilitate 
transactions made on their Platforms.
Payment Platforms are commonly used by 
farmers to purchase inputs, make payments on 
rental equipment or loans, and receive payment 
for produce. For example, PAYGO (Pay As 
You Go) solar systems often use local mobile 
money payment Platforms. Similar payment 
infrastructure is used by many agro-dealers, 
government input subsidy schemes, and 
microfinance savings groups. 
Despite the increasing popularity of payment 
Platforms, significant challenges remain. Many 
farmers prefer cash-based transactions and 
many remain unbanked. For produce sales, 
farmers often prefer being paid on the spot; 
thus, connectivity and speed are essential for 
any digital payment option. While the use of 
payment Platforms in smallholder agriculture is 
prevalent in certain geographies (e.g., in Kenya, 
where M-Pesa mobile money payments are highly 
popular), in other geographies (like Nigeria) it
is marginal. 
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