New York Financial services-based corporation; MasterCard Corp. in partnership with Cafedirect Producers Foundation, on Tuesday launched a digital platform that connects smallholder farmers, agents, buyers and banks in East Africa; Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, dubbed, “2KUZE”.
The platform will enable farmers to conduct their entire transaction of selling produce, receiving payments, and also capture a greater percentage of the wholesale value of their goods right from their phones (the phones were looked at where ‘feature phones’).
According to Mastercard Lab; the developers of the platform say currently 2000 small-scale farmers in Nandi Hills of Kenya are using the solution to sell their produce and working with farmer-friendly agents to ensure they reach the right buyers for the best price.
Mastercard Lab is exploring the potential for 2KUZE to help farming communities receive the right level of investment and to encourage more efficient ways of doing business with smallholder farmers.
“We believe that by using mobile, a technology that is so ubiquitous among farmers in Africa, we can improve financial access, bring in operational efficiency and facilitate faster payments,” Daniel Monehin; the Division President for Sub-Saharan Africa at Mastercard, said, in a press statement.[related-posts]
source: MasterCard Newsroom
