3.4. E-Agriculture Ecosystem

E-Agriculture initiatives bring together a wide array of local and regional stakeholders to form a mutually beneficial value chain:

♤ Grameen Intel and other social businesses: Information and expertise, consulting services, technology, and programs to reach rural and impoverished markets.

♤ Governments and multilateral development agencies: Program support to enable and increase rural outreach, improve food security, create jobs, and develop partner-ships with local businesses and community organizations.

♤ Banks and other financial institutions: Credit, capital, and other financial instruments (crop insurance, subsidies, etc.) for entrepreneurs and farmers.

♤ Universities and agriculture extension systems: Technology to strengthen extension systems; advice and technical support for farming communities; training and capacity- building for entrepreneurs; research and development projects designed to solve problems faced by farming communities.

♤ Supply chain (e.g., suppliers, commodity markets, aggregators): Best-of-class products and services for farmers that improve returns to all stakeholders, including farmers.

♤ Technology companies: Internet connectivity, hardware, and software solutions that create access to new markets, value chains, and business models.

♤ Community organizations (e.g., farmer cooperatives, rural telecenters, government and NGO-run agriculture service centers): Help entrepreneurs; provide grassroots agriculture domain and business support, and enable programs to scale efficiently.