Small Foundation announces new collaborative research focused on BDS in sub-Saharan Africa

Small Foundation has partnered with Agriterra in a new research project which seeks to further understanding of the economics behind business development services (BDS) provision to the agricultural sector in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). This initiative has been a collaborative effort, co-developed by Agriterra, AGRA and AMEA; with support from Argidius Foundation, SAFIN and Small Foundation; and with research partner ISF Advisors.  

We believe a thriving economy creating income-generating opportunities for micro, small and medium enterprises is key to sustainable economic empowerment at scale. Through this research we hope to discover how to improve outcomes and efficiencies in the delivery of BDS to agricultural small and medium sized enterprises (agri-SMEs) in SSA. 

Leveraging the collaboration’s networks, members and partners, this research will investigate different cost and funding models, and examine how effective BDS providers are in supporting agri-SME growth, resilience and access to finance. Research partnerships such as this are a key part to our systems change approach to addressing extreme poverty in SSA. 

Small Foundation hopes this research partnership will impact rural-impacting agri-SMEs by creating more transparency in the BDS ecosystem. The findings of this research will be shared publicly in early 2023, and we look forward to engaging with stakeholders across the ecosystem to discuss and apply learnings.