Visa, a global leader in digital payments, has announced a strategic partnership with ThriveAgric, an innovative agricultural technology company.
This collaboration will bolster the agricultural sector in Kenya, where farming remains vital despite its declining share in the national GDP. ThriveAgric plans to establish operational hubs in five key counties: Busia, Homabay, Migori, Nandi, and Narok.
The partnership seeks to reach and support 10,000 farmers through these hubs with essential training and financial services.
While facing a diminishing contribution to the GDP, Kenya’s agricultural sector still plays an indispensable role in the economy. Employing over 40% of the population and millions of people is critical in offering sources of livelihood.
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The hence-launched initiative by Visa and ThriveAgric targets some of these issues, like limited access to modern farming techniques and financial services.
ThrieveAgric’s Partnership to Set Up Local Hubs
ThrieveAgric will erect five hubs in counties that have been selected with much care. Each hub will become the focal point for training and financial services for urban and rural farmers. The company is covering different agricultural zones by targeting areas such as Busia, Homabay, Migori, Nandi, and Narok.
-Busia: Being a diversified agricultural activity county in maise, beans, and sugarcane, a hub in this county will address the needs of farmers by offering them advanced techniques and financial products to elevate their livelihoods.
-Homabay: A third country whose economy depends on fishing and horticulture. From its hub, ThriveAgric will offer residents training on sustainable best practices to enhance the area’s output and incomes for farmers and fishermen.
Migori: Its fertile land suitable for tobacco, sugarcane, and maise is a case example that wins considerably from the new farming methodologies and financial services to improve yield and market access.
-Nandi: Best known for tea and dairy farming, ThriveAgric’s hub will majorly focus on ensuring the optimisation of these two farming sectors through advanced training and financial inclusion in Nandi County.
-Narok: Wheat and barley production is synonymous with the county. Narok will have a facility to help large-scale grain farmers get a footing in changing market needs and climate conditions.
Empowering Farmers through training
One of the cornerstone aspects of this partnership is the provision of training programs tailored to the specific needs of local farmers. ‘ThriveAgric ‘will send its agronomists and experts to each hub to deliver workshops and hands-on training sessions. These will follow broadly similar themes, such as practices in sustainable farming, crop rotation, pest control, and the effective use of water resources.
These training programs empower farmers to increase productivity, reduce waste, and enhance quality. The kind of empowerment envisioned may thus set off a series of effects that will cure food security, promoting economic stability in these regenerative regions.
Financial Services for Farmers
The hubs will also provide farmers with various other financial services that meet their varied needs. Visa provides expertise in digital payments and financial inclusion by making credit, savings, and insurance products available to farmers.
Among the essential services the farmers seek are credit and savings, other than insurance or any other financial service that can improve their lives.
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Introducing digital payments from Visa to ThriveAgric will streamline and digitise its operations, reducing the associated risks of cash handling and inefficiencies. ThriveAgric will lead them toward being a more inclusive financial ecosystem.
Financially included farmers will boldly invest in their farming activities, eventually leading to better yields and improved incomes.
The Visa-ThriveAgric partnership will be a massive thing in the future of agriculture in Kenya. Advancing the agriculturalists in the country through setting up hubs in strategic counties for holistic training and financial services for farmers will change many lives.
Combining all these is recognition that agriculture registers a long history in the contribution to GDP and is the only way of continually supporting millions of households. As Visa and ThriveAgric steam up, the agricultural landscape of Kenya is set to change, parallel to building a much more robust, productive farming community.
