Directly from the Smallholder to the Shelf

In 2012, TechnoServe and Massmart Walmart launched a direct farm program which aims to put locally produced small-scale farmers’ produce on the shelves of Massmart. TechnoServe’s role involves training, mentoring, technical assistance and establishing links to both finance and retail markets for the farmers.

The program started as a twelve-month pilot with eight farmers in Limpopo in order to test and modify the underlying assumptions contained in the smallholder blueprint strategy and ensure the scalability of the direct farm program for smallholder farmers.

Since launch, several hundred tons of produce have been delivered and sold. The success of this project has led to a continued partnership with Massmart in which TechnoServe is working with approximately 87 new smallholder farmers.