Small-scale farmers at the heart of global food systems

This case study examines the Zowasel Carbon and Biodiversity Program, a digital initiative operating in Kenya and Tanzania to increase the sustainability and traceability of sorghum supply chains. The program connects small-scale farmers and cooperatives directly to global corporate buyers through a digital marketplace, reducing reliance on intermediaries and helping producers comply with international sustainability regulations like the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).

• Small-scale farmers are central to the agricultural economies of Kenya and Tanzania, producing 65% of marketed agricultural output in Kenya and cultivating 85-90% of available land in Tanzania.
• Sorghum is a critical drought-resilient staple crop for food security in both countries, though farmers face significant barriers to commercialization, including limited market access, poor grain quality, and a severe shortage of agricultural extension officers, with a ratio of 1 officer per 1,500 farmers in Kenya.
• Zowasel has developed a digital platform that serves as a marketplace and traceability tool to help farmers and cooperatives meet corporate Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) commitments and global policies such as the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR).
• The Zowasel platform provides several technical services to improve farmer livelihoods, including direct and secure payments within 48 hours of meeting quality parameters, AI-powered quality assessments, and an AI-powered carbon credit evaluation scoring system.
• To overcome digital literacy and infrastructure barriers, Zowasel established 'Crop Centres,' which are physical spaces providing farmers and cooperatives access to the digital marketplace, advisory services, agricultural inputs, and machinery rentals.
• The initiative aims to shift market power dynamics by bypassing intermediaries (middlemen) who often charge high service fees, instead utilizing cooperatives to aggregate produce and increase the bargaining power of small-scale farmers.
• While Zowasel has successfully 'scaled out' by expanding from Nigeria into Kenya and Tanzania, the document notes it has not yet demonstrated significant ability to 'scale up' (impacting policy/institutional structures) or 'scale deep' (shifting fundamental values and mindsets).

APA

Global Resilience Partnership (n.d.). Small-scale farmers at the heart of global food systems. https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/zowasel_v2.pdf

Chicago

Global Resilience Partnership. Small-scale farmers at the heart of global food systems. n.d. https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/zowasel_v2.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Global Resilience Partnership |title=Small-scale farmers at the heart of global food systems |url=https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/zowasel_v2.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{globalresiliencepartnershipndsmallscale, author = {{Global Resilience Partnership}}, title = {{Small-scale farmers at the heart of global food systems}}, institution = {Global Resilience Partnership}, url = {https://www.globalresiliencepartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/zowasel_v2.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }