2 MILLION
smallholder producers and agricultural entrepreneurs trained
10 MILLION
people, including children,
more food secure
3 BILLION
dollars leveraged in
agricultural sales
30 YEARS OF CELEBRATING SMALLHOLDERS
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1990 - 2000
OUR DNA
Our founding vision was that providing specialized agricultural expertise to rural sectors in low-income countries could be transformational. We began by analyzing and sharing export market opportunities with producer associations and government ministries, and working with them to develop codes of practice that supported smallholder suppliers to meet market grades and standards and prevent postharvest losses.
Our practical and cost-effective approach to market analysis was integrated by industry associations and government agencies in the Caribbean, Chad, India, Indonesia, Ghana, and Kenya into their market research units; and we helped local partners in Haiti, Jamaica, Mali, Sri Lanka, and Uganda design simple and low-cost entry point infrastructure in packing, grading, and handling that could be easily maintained and expanded locally.
2000 - 2010
OUR GAME CHANGERS
Incomes increased by 25 percent as a result of decreased postharvest losses and increased market knowledge, but by 400 percent when we incorporated production into technical assistance packages. Our technicians transferred good agricultural practices and basic technologies tailored to farmer and market needs, and worked with local, regional, and export buyers and processors to ensure smallholder supply was integrated into commercial value chains.
We determined measuring what matters was integral to our ethos as development practitioners supporting smallholders to bridge capacity gaps, so we designed an in-house monitoring & evaluation system (CIRIS) that tracked the impact of GAPs and technologies on yields, losses, sales, and incomes. CIRIS pinpointed what was and wasn’t working for our clients, and allowed us to adjust accordingly. When our donor-funded programs across El Salvador, Ethiopia, Honduras, Jamaica, Kenya, and Nepal ended in this decade, many of our clients re-invested increased profits in farms or other agribusinesses, further expanding sales and employment.
2010 - 2020
OUR EVOLUTION
As agricultural programs have increased in scope and outreach, Fintrac has increasingly accelerated our support to, and reliance on, local partners. We've also expanded our whole farm approach from fruits and vegetables to include staple crops, tree fruits, livestock, and poultry; embedded natural resource management and climate smart practices into production systems; integrated nutrition into extension activities; and focused on scaling technologies for smallholder access and affordability.
Our programs in Cambodia, Colombia, Ethiopia, Honduras, Kenya, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe continued to integrate smallholders into supply chains as we partnered with input suppliers, producer associations, aggregators, buyers, and government agencies to scale and deliver products and services. Our role has become more facilitative in transfer of GAPs as clients and former staff integrate extension into their own businesses, and we are increasingly supporting innovations in technologies, with an emphasis on local women-owned and youth-led enterprises. Household health and nutrition activities are now part of our agricultural extension model, and we’ve formalized our analytical practice, collaborating with stakeholders in 26 countries to assess enabling environment policies, and examine where and how development aid distorts local markets.
