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Digital Farmer Platforms

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Digital Farmer Platforms

Compare IOA
Country
Eswatini
Sector
Most major industry classification systems use sources of revenue as their basis for classifying companies into specific sectors, subsectors and industries. In order to group like companies based on their sustainability-related risks and opportunities, SASB created the Sustainable Industry Classification System® (SICS®) and the classification of sectors, subsectors and industries in the SDG Investor Platform is based on SICS.
Food and Beverage
Sub Sector
Most major industry classification systems use sources of revenue as their basis for classifying companies into specific sectors, subsectors and industries. In order to group like companies based on their sustainability-related risks and opportunities, SASB created the Sustainable Industry Classification System® (SICS®) and the classification of sectors, subsectors and industries in the SDG Investor Platform is based on SICS.
Food and Agriculture
Indicative Return
Describes the rate of growth an investment is expected to generate within the IOA. The indicative return is identified for the IOA by establishing its Internal Rate of Return (IRR), Return of Investment (ROI) or Gross Profit Margin (GPM).
20% - 25% (in IRR)
Investment Timeframe
Describes the time period in which the IOA will pay-back the invested resources. The estimate is based on asset expected lifetime as the IOA will start generating accumulated positive cash-flows.
Short Term (0–5 years)
Market Size
Describes the value of potential addressable market of the IOA. The market size is identified for the IOA by establishing the value in USD, identifying the Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) or providing a numeric unit critical to the IOA.
812,000 smallholder farmers in Eswatini
Average Ticket Size (USD)
Describes the USD amount for a typical investment required in the IOA.
< USD 500,000
Direct Impact
Describes the primary SDG(s) the IOA addresses.
Zero Hunger (SDG 2) No Poverty (SDG 1) Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure (SDG 9)
Indirect Impact
Describes the secondary SDG(s) the IOA addresses.
Gender Equality (SDG 5) Partnerships For the Goals (SDG 17) Responsible Consumption and Production (SDG 12)

Business Model Description

Invest in digital agricultural platforms for smallholder farmers including business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) platforms for agriculture e-commerce and procurement, market information systems for smart farming, and agriculture digital financial services; connecting farmers to input suppliers and potential customers while providing advanced agricultural statistical data and funding options to increase productivity and market access.

Expected Impact

Improve the efficiency, profitability and sustainability of agricultural production especially of smallholder farmers.

How is this information gathered?

Investment opportunities with potential to contribute to sustainable development are based on country-level SDG Investor Maps.

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Disclaimer

UNDP, the Private Finance for the SDGs, and their affiliates (collectively “UNDP”) do not seek or solicit investment for programmes, projects, or opportunities described on this site (collectively “Programmes”) or any other Programmes, and nothing on this page should constitute a solicitation for investment. The actors listed on this site are not partners of UNDP, and their inclusion should not be construed as an endorsement or recommendation by UNDP for any relationship or investment.

The descriptions on this page are provided for informational purposes only. Only companies and enterprises that appear under the case study tab have been validated and vetted through UNDP programmes such as the Growth Stage Impact Ventures (GSIV), Business Call to Action (BCtA), or through other UN agencies. Even then, under no circumstances should their appearance on this website be construed as an endorsement for any relationship or investment. UNDP assumes no liability for investment losses directly or indirectly resulting from recommendations made, implied, or inferred by its research. Likewise, UNDP assumes no claim to investment gains directly or indirectly resulting from trading profits, investment management, or advisory fees obtained by following investment recommendations made, implied, or inferred by its research.

Investment involves risk, and all investments should be made with the supervision of a professional investment manager or advisor. The materials on the website are not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any investment, security, or commodity, nor shall any security be offered or sold to any person, in any jurisdiction in which such offer would be unlawful under the securities laws of such jurisdiction.

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Country & Regions

Explore the country and target locations of the investment opportunity.
Country
Eswatini
Region
  • Eswatini: Shiselweni
  • Eswatini: Lubombo
  • Eswatini: Hhohho
  • Eswatini: Manzini
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Sector Classification

Situate the investment opportunity within sustainability focused sector, subsector and industry classifications.
Sector

Food and Beverage

Development need
Eswatini is a food-deficit country, depending on imports for domestic demand (1). Total food imports reached 291,529 metric tons in 2020-21, declining by 20% due to interruptions in cross-border trade (29). 30% of the population is food insecure, with 70% involved in agriculture (3). Poor farming practices contribute to a 30-40% loss of annual produce (11).

Policy priority
Agriculture is identified as one of the five key growth sectors in the government's Strategic Roadmap (12). The key targets include eliminating hunger, halving poverty, strengthening value chains and develop a smallholder-led food economy (5), as well as import substitution and improved irrigation and infrastructure (3).

Gender inequalities and marginalization issues
Smallholder agriculture remains the backbone of rural livelihoods in Eswatini, with over 70% of the country’s people, 60% of whom are women, relying on subsistence and small-scale farming to support their livelihoods (6). Investments in agriculture is key to driving poverty alleviation and empower youth and women in rural areas (7).

Investment opportunities introduction
The government has proposed 21 projects worth E 5.362 billion (USD 352.7 million) for the agriculture sector in the Post Covid-19 Economic Recovery plan (3). Opportunities include improving water resource management, climate-smart agriculture, diversifying agricultural production, investing in pre- and post-harvest infrastructure and strengthening value chains.

Key bottlenecks introduction
Reoccurring droughts and flooding which is exacerbated by dependency on rainfed agriculture (3). A land tenure system that reduces security of smallholder farmers as a result of no land rights and encroachment of settlements and a lack of appropriate financing for smallholder farmers to afford basic inputs (6).

Sub Sector

Food and Agriculture

Development need
Agricultural productivity has decreased contributing to only 9% of GDP (2) due to dependency on rainfed agriculture and restricted access to technology and financing (5,8). Majority of infrastructure is owned by large scale farmers limiting access to value chains and infrastructure for smallholder farmers (4, 6, 7).

Policy Priority
The Swaziland National Agricultural Investment Plan (SNAIP) prioritizes investments to enhance agricultural productivity and climate resilience (4). Diversifying agricultural production for advancing sustainable livelihoods is also emphasized by the Zero Hunger Strategic Review and the Strategy for Sustainable Development and Inclusive Growth (SSDIG) (7, 8).

Gender inequalities and marginalization issues
Despite women making up 70% of agriculture labor force in Eswatini, gender inequality persists with women lacking access to land ownership, financing, inputs and means of production (6, 4). Agriculture development could reduce poverty as many rural households depend on it to support their livelihoods.

Investment opportunities introduction
Projects listed in the Covid-19 recovery plan include investing in climate-smart agriculture techniques and infrastructure and diversifying agriculture to include more high value- and drought tolerant crops (11). Investing in agro-processing and strengthening the value chain can minimize waste and develop smallholder farmers (4).

Key bottlenecks introduction
Persistent and reoccurring droughts prevent rain-fed farmers from producing sufficiently. High cost of agricultural inputs and a lack of financing opportunities restrict smallholder farmers from upscaling their operations, access to markets and diversification of value chains.

Industry

Agricultural Products

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Pipeline Opportunity

Discover the investment opportunity and its corresponding business model.
Investment Opportunity Area

Digital Farmer Platforms

Business Model

Invest in digital agricultural platforms for smallholder farmers including business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) platforms for agriculture e-commerce and procurement, market information systems for smart farming, and agriculture digital financial services; connecting farmers to input suppliers and potential customers while providing advanced agricultural statistical data and funding options to increase productivity and market access.

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Business Case

Learn about the investment opportunity’s business metrics and market risks.

Market Size and Environment

Critical IOA Unit
Describes a complementary market sizing measure exemplifying the opportunities with the IOA.

812,000 smallholder farmers in Eswatini

70% of Eswatini's population, 812,000 people, is involved in smallholder farming (6), who would benefit from digital farmer platforms.

Digital services that support African smallholder farmers remains untapped, and it could be worth more than USD 2.26 billion across the continent (23).

Indicative Return

IRR
Describes an expected annual rate of growth of the IOA investment.

20% - 25%

According to benchmark investments in digital farmer platforms in Kenya, investments are expected to generate an IRR of 20-25% (28).

Investment Timeframe

Timeframe
Describes the time period in which the IOA will pay-back the invested resources. The estimate is based on asset expected lifetime as the IOA will start generating accumulated positive cash-flows.

Short Term (0–5 years)

Investments are short term and cash flow takes place in less than 5 years as the model is subscription-based. An agri-fintech venture operating in Eswatini expected to generate return after 2 years of operation (16).

Ticket Size

Average Ticket Size (USD)
Describes the USD amount for a typical investment required in the IOA.

< USD 500,000

Market Risks & Scale Obstacles

Business - Business Model Unproven

eSus Farm, which is an agri-fintech that specializes in tracking and providing advanced agricultural statistical data to smallholder farmers, is the only venture in the Eswatini context. It was only established in 2021, but is showing promise for scaling (16).

Market - Volatile

Prices and productivity of agricultural produce for smallholder farmers are highly volatile as a result of capacity constraints, climatic conditions and lack of access to financing and extension services (13), which may impact the demand for digital platforms.

Business - Supply Chain Constraints

Infrastructure connecting farmers to digital platforms, including access to reliable internet and necessary hardware and devices, is limited in rural areas, which may limit uptake by farmers (2, 4).
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Impact Case

Read about impact metrics and social and environmental risks of the investment opportunity.

Sustainable Development Need

General levels of productivity of smallholder farmers and in the agriculture sector have decreased as a result of a lack of data, high cost of inputs and restricted access to credit (7, 22).

Smallholder farmers lack access to financial services as a result of requirements of collateral by financial institutions. Data gathering and utilization allows farmers to use data as collateral and increase accessibility to finance (16, 17, 22).

Smallholder farmers lack necessary information and data about soil conditions, harvesting practices and market prices (17) hindering productivity and output levels.

Gender & Marginalisation

70% of Eswatini's population, most substantial among rural poor women, rely on subsistence farming to support their livelihoods and do not generate any significant income from agriculture because of data shortages and capacity constraints (6, 22).

Approximately 79% of Eswatini’s rural population depends on agriculture, but they require support through capacity building, data management and financing to produce more effectively and commercialize and scale up their operations (6, 16).

Expected Development Outcome

Integrating smallholder farmers to input providers, consumers and providing important data through digital data platforms enhances their productivity (13, 16), supporting their livelihoods.

Efficient use of localized data systems through digital data platforms improves productivity and cost effectiveness of agriculture (16).

Digital solutions allow smallholder farmers to connect with suppliers of equipment and input suppliers, logistics service providers, and improves capacity building efforts and communications between extension officers and farmers (16, 22).

Gender & Marginalisation

Digital farmer platforms empower marginalized communities living in rural areas by optimizing their agricultural practices (16).

Connecting farmers directly to suppliers of inputs and markets through digital farmer platforms empowers farmers to choose the best and most profitable available options, especially for low-income farmers in rural areas that live far away from suppliers and relevant markets (22).

Reduced logistics bottlenecks and lower use of external outputs to sell products to the market, through digital farmer platforms, reduces the required time spent on market access, which will enable smallholder farmers and women-headed households to focus more on chores (22).

Primary SDGs addressed

Zero Hunger (SDG 2)
2 - Zero Hunger

2.3.2 Average income of small-scale food producers, by sex and indigenous status

2.4.1 Proportion of agricultural area under productive and sustainable agriculture

Current Value

N/A

N/A

Target Value

The Government aims to double agricultural productivity and the income of small-scale farmers by 2030 (1).

N/A

No Poverty (SDG 1)
1 - No Poverty

1.1.1 Proportion of the population living below the international poverty line by sex, age, employment status and geographic location (urban/rural)

Current Value

29.2% (2016) (31)

Target Value

Reduce percentage of people living in poverty from 58.9% to at least 54% by 2021 (20).

Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure (SDG 9)
9 - Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure

9.b.1 Proportion of medium and high-tech industry value added in total value added

Current Value

2.23% (31).

Target Value

N/A

Secondary SDGs addressed

5 - Gender Equality
17 - Partnerships For the Goals
12 - Responsible Consumption and Production

Directly impacted stakeholders

People

Smallholder farmers, particularly in rural areas, that lack access to inputs, financing and support programs benefit from platforms that help commercialize their operations and connect them to buyers and suppliers.

Gender inequality and/or marginalization

Rural smallholder farmers and agri-businesses, where majority of Eswatini's poverty is concentrated, take advantage from increased connectivity to buyers and suppliers.

Planet

Ecosystems and biodiversity benefit from more efficient use of natural resources.

Corporates

Agri-businesses and suppliers of agricultural products and equipment that can use platforms to reach smallholder farmers.

Public sector

Government benefits from the increased efficiency of smallholder farmers as it compliments the Strategic Roadmap's goal to develop the agriculture sector as a key contributor to economic development and poverty reduction (12).

Indirectly impacted stakeholders

People

Rural inhabitants benefit from access to more affordable and locally produced food products.

Gender inequality and/or marginalization

Women farmers in rural areas improve their productive capacity through the use of technology, communication systems and data management.

Planet

Environment benefits from the digitalization of value chains and markets that reduce the environmental burden of the agricultural sector.

Outcome Risks

High costs of digital technologies, and gaps in access to internet, may exclude smallholder farmers with limited connectivity and exacerbate inequalities in agricultural production.

Impact Risks

Improved efficiency and automation may decrease demand for labor in the agricultural sector, failing to advance the contribution of the sector to national employment (20), and overall limiting the expected impact.

Smallholder farmers may lack the necessary know-how for uptake and utilization of the digital farmer platforms (16), which may reduce the impact especially for those most in need.

Impact Classification

C—Contribute to Solutions

What

Digital farmer platforms integrate smallholder farmers into agricultural markets, and improves the efficiency, profitability and sustainability of agricultural production.

Risk

While the model of digital farmer platforms is proven, labour demand implications and preparedness of smallholder farmers requires attention.

Impact Thesis

Improve the efficiency, profitability and sustainability of agricultural production especially of smallholder farmers.

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Enabling Environment

Explore policy, regulatory and financial factors relevant for the investment opportunity.

Policy Environment

Ministry Of Agriculture Strategic Plan, 2018- 2023: The commercialization of smallholder agriculture is highlighted as a key strategy, which includes the creation of a livestock trader's platform for knowledge sharing (5).

Swaziland National Agricultural Investment Plan (SNAIP), 2015: Highlights the need to improve smallholder productivity, efficiency of resource use and market access, all of which could be addressed through digital farmer solutions (4).

Kingdom of Eswatini Strategic Road Map, 2019-2022: Lists ICT as one of the five key growth sectors, tied to the medium term policy goal of supporting smallholder farmers through capacity development to move to commercial farming (12).

Eswatini National Cybersecurity Strategy, 2020-2025: Recognizes ICT as a key enabler for social and economic development, and supports this transformation by ensuring cybersecurity becomes an integral consideration in programs that enable digital transformation, including digital farmer platforms (25).

Financial Environment

Financial incentives: The African Development Bank (AfDB) approved an equity investment pool of EUR 10.5 million towards the first close of the Janngo Start-Up Fund, a pan-African tech start-up fund focusing on agribusiness, financial services, education and healthcare (30).

Fiscal incentives: Agribusiness is among the sectors applicable for the Developmental Approval Order (DAO), a corporate tax incentive for companies contributing to the country's development including a 10% corporate tax rate for 10 years and an exemption from withholding taxes on dividends, including for digital farmer platforms (22).

Regulatory Environment

Commercialization of Agriculture Land Bill, 2019: Aims to increase the number of farmers with formal ownership and titles of the land for advancing commercial agriculture (22).

Computer Crime and Cybercrime Bill, 2017: Criminalizes offences involving computers and network related crimes; the bill awaits validation by stakeholders (26).

Eswatini Communications Commission Act, 2013: Asserts that the processing, collection, use, and disclosure of information concerning a legal person can only be done with the specific consent of the data subject (27).

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Marketplace Participants

Discover examples of public and private stakeholders active in this investment opportunity that were identified through secondary research and consultations.

Private Sector

eSus Farm, Dimension Data, Royal Eswatini Sugar Corporation, MTN, Swazi Mobile, Sanlam.

Government

Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of ICT, Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Trade, National Agricultural Marketing Board (NAMBoard), Eswatini Water and Agricultural Development Enterprise (ESWADE), National Maize Corporation.

Multilaterals

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), European Union (EU), World Bank Group (WBG).

Non-Profit

Eswatini National Agricultural Union (ENAU), Africa Co-operative Action Trust (ACAT), Eswatini College of Technology, TechnoServe.

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Target Locations

See what country regions are most suitable for the investment opportunity. All references to Kosovo shall be understood to be in the context of the Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999)
country static map
rural

Eswatini: Shiselweni

Large numbers of smallholder farmers growing a variety of crops operate in Shiselweni; they are in need of technical support systems and could benefit from market linkages and input suppliers, as provided by the digital farmer platforms (22).
rural

Eswatini: Lubombo

Large numbers of smallholder farmers growing a variety of crops operate in Lubombo; they are in need of technical support systems and could benefit from market linkages and input suppliers, as provided by the digital farmer platforms (22).
semi-urban

Eswatini: Hhohho

Smallholder farmers are operational in Hhohho; and several agri-businesses and input suppliers are based this region (22).
semi-urban

Eswatini: Manzini

Smallholder farmers are operational in Manzini; and several agri-businesses and input suppliers are based this region (22).
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References

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