UNCDF has partnered with Dimagi and Baobab Sénégal to pilot an existing digital solution dedicated to the agriculture sector to reduce the information asymmetry between agri-cooperatives and financial service providers (FSPs) when it comes to lending decisions.

CommBanane is a joint platform funded by UNCDF, supported by the Last Mile Finance Trust Fund and developed by Dimagi, Inc. CommBanane has reached more than 472 smallholders active in the banana value chain in rural Senegal to track their business records and help them access specific credit products adapted to their needs.

The youth employment crisis is a global development priority. In much of West Africa, including in countries such as Senegal, high youth unemployment, signi cant proportions of the working-poor involved in vulnerable employment and economic disengagement run the risk of creating disa ection, driving migration, inciting social unrest and slowing progress towards development goals. Young people, in particular those working in agriculture, are usually perceived as a high-risk segment: they often lack collateral, have no credit history and may not comply with the requirements that are typically set by FSPs to limit risk, such as proof of business ownership or years of experience. The negative stereotypes about young people are also as a result of their low level of nancial education and are often exacerbated by cultural and social norms.

Overview of the 6 month pilot:

Scoping and requirement gathering: The objective was to help BS build nancial services or products for smallholder segments by developing a data dashboard prototype that enables them to leverage the CommAgri network and data to o er new products or services to smallholders.

Prototype development: Dimagi and BS worked together to adapt the existing solution to the speci c business needs of the organization. CommBanane was released with additional features to improve visibility of smallholder activities. The solution enabled the smallholder cooperatives to apply directly from their loan apps, which can be viewed and processed through the loan processing tools developed for Baobab.

Training and launch: In conjunction with the regional association of banana producers (COPROBAT), BS has selected 10 cooperatives among the 7 regional unions active in the BVC in Tambacounda region (south-eastern Senegal) to test the solution developed. Dimagi and BS organized on-site training of trainers with representatives of the BVC to make sure all user types (farmers, cooperatives, credit agents) could understand, test and practise using CommBanane prior to launch in the eld. The app was launched on 19 November 2019.

Results:

While the pilot is still ongoing, UNCDF has been able to demonstrate several quick-win results during the rst months of use of the new solution: for example, 9 out of the 10 cooperatives targeted started using the application, representing 170 hectares of agriculture area (and almost 130 hectares cultivated); 472 farmers have been registered for the app, with 29 per cent being women – these farmers have registered a turnover of US$79,000.

Lessons Learnt and Recommendations:

• Importance of understanding the target audience
• Ensuring institutional interest in the agriculture cooperative sector
• Buy-in of the financial services provider partner
• Commitment and structure of all actors of the value chain
• Reviewing data validation and cross-check
• Training and support function to smallholders
• Proximity of the services

Based on lessons learned and recommendations during the six-month pilot, as well as the long-term objectives of UNCDF in playing the role of an enabler for more inclusive digital economies through market system development approaches, UNCDF will advocate and work through the following lines of intervention.

Read more on UNCDF interventions, lessons learnt, results and piloting, in the full publication HERE.