Did you know?

• 2.5 billion depend economically on food value chains
• $1.53 trillion size of world food market for low income market
• 1 million small Mexican farmers currently live in poverty

As in many regions of the world, small-producers in Mexico are often trapped in a vicious circle where lack of access to capital, low productivity and weak bargaining power lead them to increased dependency on intermediaries and poverty.

Full Economic Citizenship’s (FEC) small farmers program in Mexico aims to create new opportunities to integrate small producers into formal markets as legitimate producers and customers. FEC seeks to improve markets to enable a more effective access to technological equipment, agricultural inputs and financial services, and to facilitate new commercialization avenues for their produce.

We support farmers through differentiated markets, direct access to markets, sustainable land practices and diffusion of an entrepreneurial culture among small-producers.

Collaborative Entrepreneurship in Action

Access to Finance: through partnerships with one of the leading commercial agricultural banks - BancoVe Por Mas –and AMUCSS, an Ashoka Fellow-led network of microbanks reaching out to over 55,000 clients. Including a guarantee fund representing a credit line of over $1.5 million.

Access to markets: is facilitated through partnerships with Gamesa-Quaker, Walmart and Ashoka Fellow Patrick Struebi, a leader in organic and fair-trade farming

Access to technology: after an initial pilot with Amanco, an irrigation-system provider, Ashoka is now exploring new commercial partnerships with technology providers interested in market opportunity of ($70-140 million annually) and social impact potential