EVENTS
INNOVATE - Adoption of Agricultural Innovations through Non-Traditional Financial Services
Nick Ramsing
Technical Director, Market Systems Global Programs, MEDA
Nick Ramsing directs MEDA’s inclusive market systems area of practice, supporting projects globally in private sector engagement, trade, value chains and finance. Nick has over 20 years of experience as a project manager and consultant, with significant expertise in business modelling, data analysis and visualization and application development. Nick is passionate about lean analytics, design thinking and innovation, and contributes to MEDA’s design and implementation of new enterprise, investment and supply chain models.
CloseClara Yoon
Project Manager, MEDA
Clara Yoon is a project manager at MEDA. Her primary role is managing INNOVATE, an IDRC-funded initiative focused on testing and learning about the intersection of non-traditional finance and innovation adoption by smallholders. Her areas of focus include women’s financial inclusion, digital finance, and ICT for development. She is an advocate for leveraging user-centered research and design to tackle today's pressing global development challenges. Clara holds a MA in Global Governance from the University of Waterloo and BA in Global Studies from Wilfrid Laurier University. She has prior experience in South Korea, working with a local human rights non-governmental organization that promotes and advocates for the North Korean human rights agenda.
CloseBalkrishna Thapa
Regional Program Manager, iDE Nepal
Mr. Balkrishna Thapa is regional program manager in iDE Nepal Pokhara. He is managing multiple programs of iDE Nepal since 2010 in the western part of Nepal including Non-Traditional Financial Services(NTFS) program funded by IRDC through MEDA. NTFS is the pilot program focus on access to non-traditional finance and adaptation of innovative agriculture technologies to the farmers. He has more than 16 years of working experiences in agriculture and livelihood projects funded by USAID, UKAID, Bill & Melinda gates foundation and other donors. He did bachelors degree in management from Tribhuvan University (TU) Nepal.
CloseVijaya Kumar Gurung
Head - Small and Micro Banking, Muktinath Bikas Bank Limited
Mr Gurung completed his Post Graduate Diploma in Management from Symbiosis Institute of Management Studies (SIMS), Poona, India and currently working in Muktinath Bikas Bank Limited as Head- Small and Micro Banking. Prior to joining Muktinath, he was working as Team Leader/ Value Chain Coordinator in LI-BIRD, Nepal and Relationship Manager/Head Development Credit Unit of Bank of Kathmandu Limited. He had vast experience in banking as well as in development sector.
CloseSuryamani Roul
Deputy Director, TechnoServe India
Suryamani has over 30 years of experience in building livelihood strategy and designing social development programs. At TechnoServe, he is overseeing programs that range from agri-business development and capacity building of Farmer Producers Organizations to natural resource management and sustainable value chains. Previously, he served as Senior Vice President for ACCESS Development Services besides leadership positions in CARE, and Institute of Entrepreneurship Development. He has authored and presented numerous thematic papers focusing on livelihoods and agri-enterprise promotion, micro finance, women’s economic empowerment and program convergence. He was one of the co-authors of the annual State of India’s Livelihoods (SOIL) Reports for four years (2011-2014). He holds an MA in Applied Economics from Utkal University, an MBA from Calcutta University, and has received training from Asian Institute of Technology, Coady International Institute, University of East Anglia and Yale School of Management. He is also a recipient of the ASPIRE Circle Fellowship 2015-16.
CloseCalvin Miller
Agricultural Finance Expert
Calvin Miller is an experienced expert on agricultural and rural finance and investment as well as working in rural economic development with smallholder organizations. Mr Miller is a consultant retired from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization where he was Senior Officer and Leader of the Agribusiness and Finance Group, AGS Division. He is an Agricultural Economist and prior to FAO has worked as Country Manager of MEDA in Bolivia and as Director of Economic Development in CARE, plus consulting with numerous development agencies. He was founder of MicroVest, a $350 million dollar, global, socially responsive, family of microfinance investment funds financed by private sector investors and Chairs the Board of FairTrade Access Investment Fund. He is the author of numerous publications, including a well-known book titled Agricultural Value Chain Finance: Tools and Lessons and two publications on Agricultural Investment Funds for Developing Countries and Agricultural Guarantee Schemes and many others. Mr. Miller has extensive practical experience in agricultural value chain finance at all levels, and is interested in training trainers to expand the knowledge across Africa and other regions.
CloseMaruf Azam
Coordinator – Krishi Utsho, CARE Bangladesh
Maruf Azam is a qualified professional and an Enterprise Development expert with more than 16 years of professional experience. He is a specialist in design, management and evaluation of market driven solutions. Aside development sector, he also worked in managerial position for Supply Chain Management, Budgeting & Strategic Planning, He is an MBA with major in Marketing. He is competent to lead a large team and able to deviate his team to reach its goal. Maruf is smearing and learning new techniques of Enterprise Development, Inclusive Business, Value Chain and Livelihood development, and other approaches allied to economy.
CloseJoin MEDA INNOVATE for an upcoming learning event or webinar.
MEDA INNOVATE DIGITAL LEARNING EVENT
NTF4Ag: Emerging Lessons and New Frontiers
#NTF4Ag 
This digital learning event has now concluded. Thank you to participants and speakers who joined us in discussions of non-traditional finance to deliver sustainable and scalable agricultural innovations for smallholder farmers.
Past Learning Events
Using Data to Better Understand Smallholder Farmers
On 24 January 2020, MEDA INNOVATE hosted a virtual bonfire chat about: "Using Data to Better Understand Smallholder Farmers".
We were joined by discussants:
- Anthony Connor, Director of Partnerships, Dimagi
- Brent Chism, CEO, Taroworks
- Dan Barthmaier, Senior Technical Advisor – Markets and Value Chains, Catholic Relief Services
- Jennifer Himmelstein, Director of Corporate Analysis & Technical Assurance, ACDI/VOCA
- Nick Ramsing, Technical Director, Market Systems, MEDA
Missed this webinar? The webinar recording is available now.
Key Messages:
Not all smallholder farmers are the same. How can we gather meaningful information to understand the unique experiences of smallholder farmers and the specific challenges and barriers they face to increasing their income and resiliency? This bonfire chat convened a diverse group of practitioners to share and learn from experiences collecting and using data from smallholder farming families to provide tailored products and services.
Links and Resources:
- Bonfire Chat Presentation Slides: Using Data to Better Understand Smallholder Farmers
- A Customer-Centric Lens for Good Agricultural Practices (INNOVATE Learning Paper)
Learning Journeys of Smallholder Finance and Innovation Adoption Side Event
On 30 September 2019, MEDA INNOVATE hosted a side event before the AFRACA International Conference on Best Practices in Rural and Agricultural Finance (1-3 Oct 2019) on: "Learning Journeys of Smallholder Finance and Innovation Adoption Side Event"
We were joined by speakers, Calvin Miller and INNOVATE partners: Bidhaa Sasa, Dodore Kenya Ltd., and World Relief Rwanda.
Key Messages:
This learning event showcased lessons and partner journeys on learning, testing and documenting how non-traditional finance can support smallholder producers to uptake agricultural innovations and technologies in Kenya and Rwanda. The learning event aimed to stimulate dialogue and discussion around the MEDA INNOVATE learning agenda on relevant themes and topics for the region with special focus on non-traditional financing models, gender and women's economic empowerment.
Links and Resources:
A Customer-Centric Lens for Good Agricultural Practices
On 26 September 2019, MEDA INNOVATE hosted a webinar exploring "A Customer-Centric Lens for Good Agricultural Practices" (GAP).
We were joined by speakers, Nick Ramsing (Technical Director, Market Systems Global Programs, MEDA) and Anne-Cécile Delwaide (Independent Management Consultant). Presenters drew on practical lessons and best practice from INNOVATE's diverse project portfolio, and shared insights into challenges and opportunities for customer centric GAP from the Chithumba model for soybean farmers, implemented by INNOVATE partner Agronomy Technology Ltd. (ATL) in Malawi.
Missed this webinar? The webinar recording is available now.
Key Messages:
Industry actors need to broaden and expand on Good Agricultural Practices’ (GAP) agronomic perspective (e.g. “how to grow”) to include a business case orientation centered on specific markets. Fundamentally, adopting GAP is a business investment decision that includes optimizing additional revenue and risk-based decisioning making by smallholder farmers. In order to adequately address these factors, it is necessary to:
- Emphasize the market context, not only the agronomic and growing practices;
- Adopt a customer centric perspective that treats smallholder farmer segments differently; and
- Adopt a business orientation to promote the business case and the value proposition.
Links and Resources:
- A Customer-Centric Lens for Good Agricultural Practices (INNOVATE Learning Paper)
- A Case Study of the Chithumba Model – A non-traditional finance mechanism to improve access to farm inputs in Malawi (Partner Publication)
- INNOVATE Webinar Presentation Slides: A Customer-Centric Lens for Good Agricultural Practices
Lean Impact for Ag: Transforming how we approach, design and fund solutions for smallholders
On 20 June 2019, MEDA INNOVATE and the ANDE Sustainable Agribusiness Learning Lab co-hosted a learning event on "Lean impact for agriculture: Transforming how we approach, design and fund solutions for smallholders".
We were joined by speakers, Ann Mei Chang, a leading advocate for social innovation and author of LEAN IMPACT: How to Innovate for Radically Greater Social Good; Colin Christensen, Global Policy Director of One Acre Fund; and Rocío Pérez Ochoa, Co-Founder and Director of Bidhaa Sasa, an INNOVATE project partner. Panelists led an engaging discussion and learning session among donors, investors and implementers on how we approach, design and fund solutions for smallholders.
Key Messages:
The world’s 450 million smallholder farmers live on less than $2 per day and farms under 2ha produce 30-34% of the global food supply. Closing the $150 billion smallholder finance gap can enable smallholders to have access to appropriate and contextual financial services for investing in agricultural activities, inputs and services, and ultimately improve livelihoods. Funders and implementers can better understand and serve smallholders by leveraging the Lean Impact approach, inspired by the Lean Startup Framework. Deploying hypothesis-driven experiments that reduce risk and increase the pace of learning can disrupt methods of excessive planning and prevent costly interventions that may have low adoption.
Links and Resources:
- A Customer-Centric Lens for Good Agricultural Practices (INNOVATE Learning Paper)
- Starting Small: Pathways to Customer Centricity (INNOVATE Learning Paper)
- A Case Study of the Chithumba Model – A non-traditional finance mechanism to improve access to farm inputs in Malawi (Partner Publication)
- Redefining finance for agriculture – green agricultural credit for smallholders in Peru (Eng - Partner Publication)
- Redefiniendo el financiamiento para la agricultura: crédito agrícola verde para pequeños productores del Perú (Es - Partner Publication)
Building Customer Centricity into Innovations in Smallholder Financing
On 30 January 2019, MEDA INNOVATE hosted a learning event in Nairobi, Kenya on "Building Customer Centricity into Innovations in Smallholder Financing".
MEDA and its partners shared insights and learning from the INNOVATE project portfolio focused on testing and exploring non-traditional finance with potential for smallholder innovation adoption. The portfolio contains 10 projects (5 pilots, 5 case studies) around the world (East and Southern Africa, South Asia and South America), and is part of a 3-year project funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC).
Key Messages:
The event focused on customer centricity, with an emphasis on the relevance and importance of designing products, services and solutions with the customer (in this case, women and men smallholders) at the center of the process and how to continue to carry that approach through programs. The event convened perspectives and lessons from entrepreneurs, designers, and digital financial services experts on experiences with testing new products and solutions for respective smallholder customer segments.
Links and Resources:
- A Customer-Centric Lens for Good Agricultural Practices (INNOVATE Learning Paper)
- Starting Small: Pathways to Customer Centricity (INNOVATE Learning Paper)
- A Case Study of the Chithumba Model – A non-traditional finance mechanism to improve access to farm inputs in Malawi (Partner Publication)
- Redefining finance for agriculture – green agricultural credit for smallholders in Peru (Eng - Partner Publication)
- Redefiniendo el financiamiento para la agricultura: crédito agrícola verde para pequeños productores del Perú (Es - Partner Publication)
Join our mailing list
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