Smallholder Agriculture
Photo credit: Agricycle.
Africa | September 7, 2021
Agricycle raises $2.4 million to repurpose food waste from smallholder farmers in Africa
ImpactAlpha, September 7 — Obstacles to the global market mean many smallholder farmers without adequate storage throw away large portions of their crops. …
Photo credit: TartanSense
Agrifood Tech | August 26, 2021
Robotics company TartanSense secures $5 million to help India’s farmers automate field tasks
ImpactAlpha, August 26 – Agriculture suffers from a worldwide labor shortage that has been exacerbated by the global pandemic. Bangalore-based TartanSense is developing …
Five Cardinals Farm in Plainview, Va.
Community Finance | August 25, 2021
Steward revamps its ‘crowdfarming’ model with short term loans for sustainable farms
ImpactAlpha, Aug. 25 – Sustainable farmers are on the front lines of the fight to mitigate climate change. Yet agriculture funding is geared …
Photo credit: Benzinga.
Dealflow | August 24, 2021
Regrow secures $17 million to help farmers monetize carbon reductions
ImpactAlpha, August 24 — “Implementing and scaling responsible, sustainable agricultural practices is the most actionable strategy we can take to reverse climate change,” …
Dealflow | July 28, 2021
India’s Samunnati to list green bond to back climate-resilient farming
ImpactAlpha, July 28 – Chennai-based Samunnati is a rare source of financing for India’s 130 million smallholder farmers, coupling capital with agricultural support …
Jocotenango, Guatemala | Photo by Alexander Schimmeck on Unsplash
Latin America | July 1, 2021
Impact investors step up to the migration challenge in Central America
ImpactAlpha, July 1 – The confluence in Central America of extreme weather events, gang violence, corruption, and poverty – exacerbated by COVID – is …
Photo credit: SupPlant.
Africa | June 15, 2021
SupPlant raises $10 million for affordable irrigation for smallholder farmers
ImpactAlpha, June 15 — SupPlant‘s sensorless hardware collects real-time data on plants, soil and the climate conditions to help farmers make precise irrigation …
Africa | June 2, 2021
ADAP Capital backs FarmMoja to train Kenyan farmers
ImpactAlpha, June 2 – Kericho-based FarmMoja operates in Kenya’s tea region, offering hundreds of smallholder farmers access to farming inputs and technical training, particularly …
Photo credit: Financial Access.
Africa | June 2, 2021
IDH Farmfit Fund acquires stake in LendXS to expand lending to smallholder farmers
ImpactAlpha, June 2 — Approximately 270 million smallholder farmers worldwide live in poverty; few banks are willing to extend them credit due to …
Africa | April 1, 2021
Root Capital secures $35 million from DFC to expand lending to rural agribusinesses
ImpactAlpha, April 1 — The U.S. International Development Corporation, formerly known as OPIC, is investing $35 million in the Cambridge, Mass.-based social lender …
Photo credit: Farmcrowdy
Africa | March 24, 2021
African agtech is boosting yields, protecting resources and raising incomes
ImpactAlpha, March 24 – Field drones. Harvesting robots. Big Data-driven farm insights. Innovative technological applications in agriculture can have a profound impact on farmers’ …
Agrifood Tech | March 24, 2021
The Nature Conservancy is building a portfolio of agtech ventures to improve soil health
ImpactAlpha, March 24 — The Nature Conservancy has formed a partnership with iSelect Fund, an impact venture firm that invests mainly in agriculture …
Photo credit: ACRE Africa
Africa | March 22, 2021
Alt-credit and mobile-money apps give African fintechs a closeup view of climate risks – and opportunities
ImpactAlpha, March 22 – Financial technology firms have leveraged billions of data points across mobile phones and social media to transform loan underwriting across …
Photo credit: Pixxel
Agrifood Tech | March 18, 2021
Pixxel raises $7.3 million to launch satellites for agri-analytics
ImpactAlpha, March 18 – Bangalore-based Pixxel is launching its own hyperspectral satellites to improve analysis of ground-level crop and water information for the agriculture …
Clean Energy | March 10, 2021
Six financial innovations for a sustainable recovery in Africa, Asia and Latin America
ImpactAlpha, March 10 – Voluntary and mandatory carbon markets are starting to drive sustainable investments around the world. Energy Peace Partners’ Peace Renewable …