Theme: Agriculture Finance

The government has been considering a policy shift to transfer the fertilizer subsidy amount to the bank accounts of farmers rather than fertilizer companies. In our pan-India study with farmers we found that only one-third of the farmers knew that they purchase fertilizers at a subsidized rate. With such low awareness levels, this policy shift may evoke shock and displeasure since this would require farmers to first purchase fertilizers at the market price.

XaasTag is an AgTech start-up that provides a digital, collaborative online marketplace. The platform connects agricultural commodity producers, such as farmer producer organizations (FPOs) at one end and institutional buyers at the other, and enables them to directly sell and buy from each other.

Aggois is an AgTech startup that provides short-term credit solutions to farmers in India against the sale of their produce. It has identified a critical financing gap that farmers face between the time they harvest one crop and sow the next. This blog explains how the startup has worked to mitigate this gap and uncover opportunities and challenges.

This publication discusses key findings from the assessment of unconditional cash transfers in the three union territories of Chandigarh, Dadra & Nagar Haveli, and Puducherry and offers recommendations for the food subsidy program in India.

The case study provides a detailed account of the Government of India’s food security response to the COVID-19 pandemic through its Public Distribution System (PDS), the world’s largest food security program. It captures how the government reached its 810 million poor to provide food grains despite stringent lockdowns.

Leesa Shrader, the Director of the AgriFin Accelerate Program at Mercy Corps, speaks at The Helix Institute at MSC master class series.