Mumbai: Mastercard has partnered with Gramophone, an agritech platform, to provide two million smallholder farmers with access to agricultural inputs on the Mastercard Community Pass platform in India. The collaboration aims to facilitate offline payments for farmers in rural and remote areas through the Community Pass financial inclusion card. Gramophone also plans to enable its existing 500,000 farmers with offline payment options and credit facilities.
Community Pass offers a digital ecosystem that connects buyers seeking sustainable, high-quality produce at competitive prices and supply chain financing with smallholder farmers in need of reliable markets, fair prices, and access to credit. The platform brings together various stakeholders in the agricultural sector, creating a centralised marketplace that enhances the collective impact on farming communities. Upcoming features of Community Pass include an offline payment card and input credit, set to be launched in the coming months.
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“This partnership ensures that farmers can purchase the right inputs at fair prices. The service will be rolled out later this year, starting with inputs and offline payments, with access to credit becoming available early next year. Additionally, Gramophone plans to introduce innovative loyalty and cash-back schemes for its members via the offline-enabled card. The collaboration also aims to provide easier access to working capital for farmer producer organisations and small retailers, helping them to scale their businesses and drive input sales,” Mastercard said in a press release.
“In line with the Government of India’s vision to digitise the agriculture sector, Mastercard has been working to bring key stakeholders in the agri ecosystem onto one platform to ease credit and input access for farmers and enhance their incomes. This collaboration with Gramophone will ensure that farmers can access quality inputs of their choice, on easy credit terms, as well as the benefits of digital payments even without internet connectivity or smartphone availability,” said Ricardo Pareja, Head of Community Pass Markets, Mastercard.
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“At Gramophone, we have consistently delivered top-tier agronomy advisory and quality products through our in-house technology platform enabling Input Commerce. Now, we are excited to add Mastercard’s advanced technology stack and partner networks to further enhance India’s agricultural ecosystem. Starting with a pilot in Madhya Pradesh, we will aim to support farmers across India by increasing their incomes by 50-60 per cent, through access to inputs and credit,” said Tauseef Khan, Co-founder, Gramophone.
To date, Mastercard Community Pass, a shared and interoperable digital infrastructure for rural populations, has benefited over two million Indian farmers across 25 districts in eight states, Mastercard said.
