Mastercard ranked No. 2 on The Fair360, formerly DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity list in 2022.
Mastercard’s Farm Pass platform bridges the gap between the supply and demand industries to support farming communities. The platform directly connects farmers to buyers, providing them the opportunity to negotiate a prices for their produce that works for them.
Farmers in remote communities in India struggle to get a fair price for their produce, dependent on middlemen and unaware of their produce’s market value.
“Crop brokers at local markets claim a hefty share of profits, leaving farmers little room to negotiate prices. Even worse, they have no cash on hand and no access to credit to buy quality pesticides and fertilizers to maximize their harvest. Every day is a battle to run their farms to support their families. Many of their children are leaving their communities to pursue other careers, since farming no longer offers a sustainable income,” wrote Mastercard.
Farm Pass initially launched in Kenya in 2015. Since then, it has expanded to Uganda, Tanzania and India. With the platform, farmers can access quality farming products, review information and advice, get paid and pay digitally, efficiently source their products and build a validated financial history to apply for loans.
Farm Pass is a part of Mastercard’s Community Pass digital platform. Founded by Tara Nathan, this platform aims to close the digital equity gap for people in remote and underserved communities. Through the platform, people can access banks, schools, healthcare providers and more.
“Incomes are stifled for hundreds of millions of smallholder farmers living in digitally excluded communities,” said Nathan, who also serves Mastercard as the EVP of Digital Solutions for Development. “We’ve found many of these farmers are price takers and not price makers. We’re digitizing value chains to be more transparent, empowering the farmers.”
Read more at mastercard.com.
