The contribution of smallholder farmer groups and micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) is essential in agribusiness value chains. However, they often struggle to sustain business operations due to a lack of access to startup and working capital. With the COVID-19 pandemic bringing the world to a standstill, the conditions created were a major blow to their businesses, which did not make staying on their feet, financially, any easier.
To help them meet their capital needs, 2SCALE set out to garner support for these MSMEs in Nigeria, Kenya and Mali whose agribusiness projects were not progressing due to financial difficulties. Following the success of the two previous cohorts of crowdfunding campaigns in empowering smallholder farmers and entrepreneurs, 2SCALE launched the third cohort of crowdfunding campaigns in July 2022. This third cohort has seen 60 campaigns successfully attract immense support, raising over $26,503 in just six weeks!
For this year’s campaign, a more innovative approach was incorporated. Not only was the campaign focused on acquiring financial contributions, but also included a crowdsourcing tool that would serve as a source of solutions to some of the challenges participating MSMEs face in their enterprises. Through crowdsourcing, MSMEs could easily start an initiative on the platform and add activities to their initiatives. This meant that all 2SCALE connections could, for example, set out coaching questions or business-specific questions on the platform and get feedback from other MSMEs, local partners and international coaches and stakeholders from all over the world. Participating entrepreneurs could mobilise their network, create a community and gain support for their ventures.