Scalable Data-Sharing Frameworks Supporting Financial Access for Smallholder Farmers

Trusted private-to-private sharing of farmer data between agribusinesses, financial institutions and companies can dramatically improve risk assessments and expand farmers’ access to credit, but this isn’t happening nearly enough.

Across Asia and Africa, agribusinesses, off-takers, and input providers are investing heavily in building farmer networks. They collect detailed information on planting, yields, transactions, and repayments — data that could transform how farmers are financed. At the same time, financial institutions are under pressure to expand rural lending portfolios, capture new clients, and qualify for the fast-growing pool of development and climate finance.

Yet today, this opportunity is being missed. Data remains siloed within companies, often collected for compliance or operational purposes but not structured or verified in ways that banks can trust.

For lenders, this means onboarding farmers is expensive and risky. For businesses, it means carrying the burden of in-kind finance themselves, straining cash flow and limiting growth.

According to FAO, globally; fewer than 10% of smallholder farmers have access to formal credit, despite agribusinesses and financial institutions already holding the data that could change this.

This is where private-to-private data sharing models come in. By creating trusted flows of farmer data between agribusinesses and financial institutions, companies can reduce information asymmetry, strengthen risk assessments, and expand access to credit. The result is twofold: direct financing that enables farmers to access loans tailored to their production cycles, and indirect financing that allows businesses to deliver inputs and services more effectively, backed by external capital rather than their own balance sheets.

The missed opportunity is not just for farmers — it is for the companies and financial institutions themselves. With better data sharing, agribusinesses can stabilise supply chains, improve farmer loyalty, and unlock new financing partnerships. Banks and FIs can expand lending portfolios, capture new revenue streams, and improve compliance with emerging DFI and climate finance requirements.

Convening for data-sharing

Rabobank Foundation and IDH have partnered to dive further into Scalable Data-Sharing Frameworks Supporting Financial Access for Smallholder Farmers Project to build the evidence base and demonstrate scalable models of private-to-private data sharing.

Our partnership is guided by a central research question:

How can sustainable, value-generating private-to-private data sharing models be built and scaled to improve farmers’ access to credit — while creating tangible business value for agribusinesses and financial institutions?

To answer this, we will:

• Identify and analyse existing use cases where private actors are already sharing farmer data to unlock finance.
• Interview and track innovative companies, FIs, fintechs, DFIs, and off-takers unlocking financing through private-to-private data sharing about and for smallholder farmers.
• Taking a deep dive into models for data sharing and the business models that support them across two cases in two jurisdictions in Asia and Africa.
• Document concrete business cases showing how agribusinesses, off-takers, and financial institutions benefit from sharing data.
• Translate lessons into practical resources to inspire adoption across the sector.

Engaged Research Project Featuring Experts in Industry 

Our work is guided by a formal Steering Committee and by direct engagement with the private sector. Through close dialogue with agribusinesses, agri-tech firms, and financial institutions, we are mapping the intricacies of data sharing: the prerequisites for success, the opportunities and challenges, and the impacts that can shape how other actors approach data sharing. These insights will help ensure that what we produce is not theoretical but grounded in the realities of business and finance.

The Steering Committee brings together expertise from finance, agribusiness, and global institutions, with members including:

• Albert Boogaard – Rabo Partnerships
• Carolijn Gommans – IDH
• Jasmer Dhingra – IDH
• Song Bae Lee – Sector expert
• Shreejit Borthakur – World Economic Forum 

What You Can Expect 

IDH will through the FarmFit Insights Hub host all program outputs, designed for businesses, financial institutions, and sector partners looking to learn, adapt, and scale.

a. Case Studies & Business Spotlights – Short, accessible stories that capture real business experiences and lessons from data-sharing deep dives. Each profile highlights how data sharing improves risk assessment, expands farmer financing, and drives commercial value for agribusinesses and financial institutions alike.

b. Insights & Showcases: Data Sharing Pathways to Smallholder Finance – A living collection of company profiles and applied learning pieces that document practical models of data sharing in action — how they work, what outcomes they achieve, and how others can replicate them. Each showcase adds to a growing evidence base for responsible, scalable data-sharing ecosystems.

c. Webinars & Sector Engagements – Interactive sessions that distill key lessons from data-sharing deep dives, research, and stakeholder roundtables. These exchanges bring together agribusinesses, lenders, and development partners to discuss governance, consent, and trust as essential building blocks for sustainable data ecosystems.

d. A Data Sharing Handbook (Dec 2026) – A forthcoming practical guide offering step-by-step tools, frameworks, and checklists for organizations seeking to implement responsible data-sharing models.