Summary

“Government, NGO, and business leaders typically see great promise for digital tools to empower smallholder value chains and make them more efficient and profitable for farmers. However, hope is not enough – new technologies only reach scale when they are delivered within a functioning business model.

To scale, the business model must provide a 1) Lifetime Value for each new customer which exceeds 2) the cost of acquiring each new customer. However, finding a business model which meets this requirement on small, remote farms is a tough job. Delivery and acquisition costs are typically high, and Lifetime Values low as each farmer’s revenue is limited.

By observing the full range of solutions that have been developed across the ASEAN region, we see startups migrating to five business models which seem to show the greatest potential in reaching smallholder farmers at scale. This report provides an overview of those five business models, and why we think they show the greatest promise.”