The National Agricultural Marketing Board of Eswatini, NAMBoard and the AeTrade Group have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to advance digital trade, market access and financial inclusion for farmers, cooperatives and agribusinesses.
The agreement establishes a strategic partnership between NAMBoard’s mandate in farmer development, market facilitation and agricultural regulation and AeTrade Group’s integrated digital trade and financial inclusion platform.
According to the two institutions, the objective of the partnership is to build a more competitive, inclusive and market-led agricultural sector that enables Eswatini producers to participate in local, regional and continental markets. 
Under the MoU, NAMBoard and AeTrade will collaborate to on-board farmers and cooperatives onto AeTrade’s digital marketplace.
The platform will provide market information, link producers to buyers and facilitate logistics and compliance for domestic, SADC and African Continental Free Trade Area trade.
The agreement also provides for the integration of digital payment systems, credit profiling and linkages to financial institutions to improve access to finance for small-scale producers.
NAMBoard Chief Executive Officer Bhekizwe Maziya said the partnership addresses key constraints of market access and finance.
“For a long time our farmers have produced good quality products, but they have struggled to get those products to the right buyers at the right price and at the right time,” Maziya said.
He said that therefore, this partnership with AeTrade gives Eswatini farmers the tools to change that.
He said it puts the farmer at the centre of a digital ecosystem where markets are transparent and payments are secure.
Maziya said NAMBoard will provide technical support, farmer training and regulatory oversight to ensure produce meets required standards.
He said the Board will also support cooperatives to aggregate volumes to improve competitiveness.
AeTrade Group Chief Executive Officer Mulualem Syoum said the partnership will embed financial services into agricultural trade.
“Trade and finance must move together,” Syoum said. He stated that their platform is designed to create a digital footprint for every farmer and cooperative.
He further said that when a farmer sells on the platform, that transaction becomes data.
That data can then be used by banks and other financiers to extend affordable credit.
Syoum said AeTrade operates in several African countries and has experience connecting small producers to supermarkets, processors and exporters.
He said the platform to be deployed in Eswatini will be aligned to local commodities and regulatory requirements.
The first phase will focus on pilot commodities and cooperatives identified by NAMBoard.
Training programmes will be rolled out to support farmer on-boarding and digital literacy.
Maziya said the partnership will also target youth and women in agriculture. “We want a system that is inclusive,” he said.
“If a young person in the rural areas with a smartphone can list his goats or vegetables and get paid digitally, then we are moving in the right direction.”
Syoum said technical teams from both institutions will be established to coordinate system integration, compliance and monitoring.
