We are excited to be featured in the latest GSMA report, Agriculture in Latin America: Recent Trends in Digital Disruption. This comprehensive report explores how digital solutions are reshaping agriculture across the region, particularly for smallholder farmers. The report showcases our digital platform, FarmDirect, which has been recognized for its leadership in engaging female farmers across […]
At Producers Direct, we believe in the power of farmers to lead the way in creating sustainable and resilient agricultural systems. Through our partnership with the Bayer Foundation, we proudly support female farmers across Peru as they adopt innovative digital tools to enhance their farms and access new markets. In a recently released video, we […]
Over the past few weeks, we’ve connected with individuals and organisations at the forefront of agriculture and technology. From Berlin to Nairobi, our journey has been filled with insightful discussions, innovative collaborations, and learning about the future of food systems. From Washington to the Netherlands to Nairobi, here’s a roundup of events we were a […]
Our network of youth agents connects us to farmers on the ground. They work closely with farmers by coordinating training sessions and visiting their farms to check progress and to help solve the challenges that farmers face. Since 2022, our youth agents in Peru have been carrying out surveys with coffee farmers, training them on […]
Background Producers Direct is an award-winning organization led by smallholder farmers, for smallholder farmers. Since 2009, we have been working to pioneer a new model centered on smallholders taking leadership and developing innovative solutions to the challenges they face and providing an opportunity for smallholders to transform their farms into sustainable businesses. We are a UK-registered […]
Our network of youth agents connects us to farmers on the ground. Every day, they work closely with farmers, ensuring that through our digital tool Farm Direct farmers access the services they need to grow their agriculture enterprises. We visited our Centre of Excellence in Uganda and spoke to one of our youth agents, Audrey […]
The Milken-Motsepe Prize in AgriTech is a global competition designed to inspire innovative solutions that increase economic value for small- and medium-sized African farms. Expert judges will be assessing field test data from competing teams, and awarding the competition’s $1 million grand prize and other prizes. The People’s Choice bonus prize gives the public an […]
The Milken-Motsepe Prize in AgriTech is a global competition for innovative solutions designed to increase economic value to farmers. In February 2022, Producers Direct was named as a Finalist for the inaugural award. Through our digital innovation Farm Direct, which was co-designed with farmers in our network, we aim to put technology and data into […]
Reaching young people is a fundamental goal for Producers Direct and for five years, we have been working with youth groups across our network to provide platforms and opportunities for young people to interact with their peers and other strategic partners and establish thriving agri-enterprises in Kenya and beyond. One of these groups is The […]
Smallholder farmers in our network are organised into cooperatives or producer organisations which we refer to as Centres of Excellence (CoEs). Our CoEs are a farmer-run enterprise hosted by producer organisations. They support farmers through farmer-led training, funding through a farmer-led credit fund, market access, and farmers accessing applicable data to help them make better […]
I took up beekeeping thanks to a training opportunity offered by Cenfrocafe. I really enjoyed it and became very passionate about bees. I decided to take up beekeeping as an additional activity on my farm because I believe in always developing my skills. I started with three bee hives, and after two years had 15 […]
At the core of Producers Direct’s model is its Centre of Excellence network, a farmer-run enterprise hosted by a smallholder producer organisation. Our goal is for each CoE to serve as a ‘one stop shop’, providing support to farmers through farmer-led training, funding through a farmer-led credit fund, market access and farmers accessing applicable data […]
About Us Producers Direct is an award-winning enterprise led by farmers for farmers. We work with smallholder farmers to develop innovative and sustainable solutions to the daily challenges they face enabling smallholders to transform their farms into sustainable businesses. Our unique farmer-led model blends in-person services with cutting-edge digital tools enabling smallholder farmers to enhance […]
When three engineering students from Dedan Kimathi University of Technology saw the challenges bee farmers experience every day, came together and developed a solution. Jackline Tum, a tech enthusiast with a passion for using technology to solve community challenges was interested in helping bee farmers because growing up in Nandi County, she had seen first-hand […]
“ I attended beekeeping training at the Sireet Centre of Excellence (COE) office and after that training, another team of farmers came to teach us more about beekeeping. From these training sessions, I learned more about beekeeping and how to get a market for honey and other farm products.” At Producers Direct, we understand that […]
I have been working as a youth agent in Puerta Pulache in Peru since December 2021 and I‘m also a student, doing an undergraduate degree in Agriculture Business Management. I did not have any work experience before I started working as a youth agent, so when I got the opportunity to work with the women […]
Por Trilce Oblitas En el contexto actual peruano se abre paso un proceso que desafía el relacionamiento entre lo urbano y lo rural, así como la aproximación a las realidades rurales desantendidas por décadas. Este proceso resalta la necesidad de revalorizar las estructuras organizaciones que representan al mundo rural y semi rural acostumbrado a estar […]
As an organisation, we will continue to strengthen our network of farmers and harness the collective energy of the 1.7M smallholders in our network. As a team, we’ve looked back at what the last decade has taught us and identified these five top learnings to help us reflect, learn, and plan as we look ahead. […]
‘Desarrollo de Capacidades Laborales y Emprendimientos Empresariales Juveniles’ es un proyecto de CENFROCAFE, una de las cooperativas socias de Producers DIrect en el norte de Perú, la cual se enfoca en la producción de cafés especiales, tostado de café y apoyo al comercio y desarrollo de sus socias y socios. El objetivo del proyecto es […]
‘Desarrollo de Capacidades Laborales y Emprendimientos Empresariales Juveniles’ (‘Development of Work Skills and Youth Entrepreneurship’) is a project by CENFROCAFE – a Producers Direct cooperative partner in the north of Peru focussing in speciality coffee, coffee roasting and supporting the commercial and community development of its members. The goal of the project is part of […]
Throughout June-August 2021, we ran an exciting new campaign in partnership with the UK-Kenya Tech hub. The Youth Direct Na Agribiz campaign aimed to reach out to youth across Kenya to understand their knowledge and attitudes about working in the agriculture sector, uncover inspirational youth-led innovations, as well as hear from key experts in the […]
“We showed that we are united and that we, young people, are unstoppable.” — Greta Thunberg Read in English below El rol de las y los jóvenes en diferentes ámbitos es cada vez más importante. Hace solo una semana que ellas y ellos se levantaron en Perú y, a través de manifestaciones multitudinarias, lograron que […]
Reyna Isabel Mamani es socia de la cooperativa Inambari, una de las ocho bases de la Central de Cooperativas CECOVASA, ubicada en el valle de Sandia en Puno. Reyna es una mujer emprendedora y desde hace mucho tiempo se dedica a los cultivos de café y cítricos en su chacra, en el distrito de Alto […]
By Trilce Oblitas, Peru Manager. Since 1923, the first Saturday of July is the date to commemorate Cooperativism as it is the the International Day of Cooperatives. Though this day focusses on a different and relevant thematic each year, 2020 being Climate Change, it should allow us, considering the defiant context, to look back at […]
In an attempt to limit the spread of Covid-19 in the communities, the office of the President in Uganda came up with several regulations. These, although necessary, have affected smallholder producer’s lives, including work and financial stability. Nicodemus Bamuhangaine is in charge of extension and organic certification in Ankole Coffee Producers Cooperative Union (ACPCU), a […]
Creemos que los jóvenes son el futuro de la agricultura y que tienen la capacidad de mejorar la calidad de vida de muchas personas en sus comunidades. Lo confirmamos tras entrevistar a Samuel Smith Pérez, un joven de la cooperativa Huadquiña, que pasa la cuarentena en su chacra en Santa Teresa, Cusco. Después de que […]
Covid-19 & Global Food Systems Looking beyond the immediate global health crisis presented by Covid-19, attention is increasingly focused on the devastating impacts of the global pandemic on the sustainability of global food systems. Rural communities have historically been hardest-hit by similar pandemics. Under-resourced health systems will struggle to respond. Social distancing and lockdowns, effective […]
En el año 1975 las Naciones Unidas institucionalizó el 8 de marzo como el Día Internacional de la Mujer. De acuerdo con las Naciones Unidas, el Día Internacional de la Mujer “es un buen momento para reflexionar acerca de los avances logrados, pedir más cambios y celebrar la valentía y la determinación de las mujeres […]
This interview was originally posted by our Head of Programmes, Sylvia Ng’eno on her personal blog. We know there are 500 million small scale farmers worldwide and 2 billion people depend on them for their livelihoods. Growing up in a small-scale farming community in rural Kenya, the perception was one of farming for food more […]
Leer en Español abajo. Radio is a powerful means of communication that allows you to celebrate diversity. It is a democratic platform that allows everyone to have their say. Worldwide, radio remains the most consumed means of communication. This unique ability of the radio to reach a wide audience allows for myriad opinions to be expressed, represented […]
