Small-scale farmers at the heart of global food systems

The document examines Zowasel's pilot initiative in Kenya and Tanzania, which aims to build resilience for small-scale sorghum farmers through a digital marketplace and physical Crop Centres. The program addresses challenges such as limited market access, poor grain quality, and the need for supply chain transparency driven by global regulations like the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR). By connecting farmers and cooperatives directly to corporate buyers, Zowasel seeks to reduce reliance on intermediaries, promote regenerative agriculture, and enable farmers to access carbon credit markets. The analysis evaluates the initiative's transformative potential across five dimensions: alignment with contexts, resource enablement, relationship building, shifting power structures, and supporting systems learning.

• Small-scale farmers are critical 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 vital, drought-resilient staple crop for food security in semi-arid regions of both countries, including Tabora, Singida, Mara, and Shinyanga in Tanzania, and Siaya, Migori, and Homabay in Kenya.
• Global regulations, specifically the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), are driving a need for robust traceability data to ensure produce is farmed under ethical and sustainable conditions.
• Zowasel's digital platform connects farmers and cooperatives directly to buyers, providing real-time commodity prices, secure payments within 48 hours, and a Digital Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (D-MRV) system for sustainability standards.
• To overcome digital literacy and infrastructure barriers, Zowasel established 'Crop Centres'—physical spaces providing access to the digital marketplace, credit scoring, advisory services, and agricultural inputs.
• The initiative aims to shift market power dynamics by reducing the role of intermediaries (middlemen) who often charge high service fees, instead empowering cooperatives to increase their bargaining power.
• Zowasel provides digital training in local languages on regenerative agriculture, finance, and insurance, aligning farmer practices with the quality requirements of corporate buyers.
• While the initiative has successfully 'scaled out' by expanding from Nigeria to Kenya and Tanzania, it has not yet demonstrated significant ability to 'scale up' (impact policy) or 'scale deep' (shift 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} }