Rebalancing Relationships in the Agri-Food Systems in Mexico & beyond

The Social Innovation

Magnitude of the Problem, and its Root Causes

Smallholder farmers in Mexico and globally play a critical role in food security, rural economies, and biodiversity conservation. They produce a significant share of the world’s food and steward much of its agricultural land. Yet, a large proportion of smallholder farming households remain trapped in poverty, constrained by low productivity, volatile and often unfavorable market prices, limited access to finance and technical assistance, and production models that are increasingly unsustainable in the face of climate change.

Globally, nearly three-quarters of people living in poverty reside in rural areas, where agriculture is often the primary source of livelihoods. Persistent rural poverty is closely linked to broader social challenges, including forced migration, economic exclusion, and vulnerability to illicit activities. At the same time, environmental degradation—soil depletion, water scarcity, and biodiversity loss—combined with climate change is further undermining smallholder farmers’ resilience and long-term viability.

During Nuup’s participation in the Dela Program co-created by Ashoka and IKEA Social Entrepreneurship in 2020, they highlighted the following key factors contributing to the magnitude of the problem:   
•    Public policy and government programs that favor large farmers and offer little support for smallholders’ market access or technical assistance
•    Fragmentation and lack of organization among smallholder farmers, limiting economies of scale and bargaining power
•    Opaque, consolidated value chains that reduce farmers’ market leverage and access to information
•    Lack of trust, traceability, and incentives for farm-level sustainable practices
•    Limited access to affordable finance and technology

Based on its systems change analysis, Nuup made it a mission to strengthen and rebalance relationships between smallholder farmers, agri-food buyers, and other key stakeholders, enabling more inclusive, traceable, and sustainable agri-food value chains.

"The program was a catalyst for bringing a systems change mindset into our organization. We already had a vision, but it gave us the tools to organize our approach, identify leverage points and partnerships, and make everything more coherent.
I especially valued the systems mapping exercise—it clarified where we fit and what mattered most. The experimentation phase, with regular accountability to advisors, was both motivating and demanding. It gave us a clear roadmap and helped turn our idea into something concrete, much faster than we could have on our own."

Strategy to Catalyze a Network of Changemakers towards the Targeted Mission

The strategy involved building the market by orchestrating efforts to seed multi-stakeholder cross-sector partnerships.

“Orchestrating partnerships and aligning incentives across finance, technology, and markets is essential for lasting impact. 
Never lose sight of the bigger picture... System change is a long journey, not something that happens overnight. It takes time to consolidate value propositions, iterate solutions, and build the partnerships needed for scale.”  

Some of the tactics they deployed towards the mission as a part of the strategy include:

1) Collaborating with Financial Institutions to Co-create Solutions to make Agricultural Finance more Accessible & Attractive to all 

Nuup recognized that one of the biggest barriers facing smallholder farmers is access to affordable capital.
Traditional financial institutions often perceive lending to smallholder farmers as high-risk and costly, due to factors like small loan sizes, geographic dispersion, lack of collateral, and limited financial records. As a result, farmers are frequently excluded from formal finance, which limits their ability to invest in productivity, sustainability, and resilience. 

To bridge this gap, Nuup launched Coa, a collaborative blended finance platform co-created with The Nature Conservancy, Dalberg, and Aceli Africa, and supported by USAID and the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. Rather than lending directly, Coa acts as an orchestrator that facilitates credit through a network of 11 accredited local financial institutions. 

The Coa platform supports smallholder agricultural lending by providing a comprehensive suite of tools—including liquid guarantees, capacity building for financial institutions, and financial strengthening for agri-SMEs—while also using origination incentives to reward high-impact, inclusive, and climate-resilient loans.

“System change happens in phases: proof of concept, pilots, positioning, and only then scaling. Donors and partners must take a long-term perspective and not expect immediate large-scale impact.”

By strategically deploying philanthropic capital, Coa has achieved a remarkable 34x multiplier effect. In its first year of operation, the platform utilized approximately USD 200,000 in incentives to mobilize USD 7 million in private sector credit, directly benefiting over 6,900 smallholder farmers.

2) Collaborating with Corporate Partners on their Sourcing Strategies and Matching them with Smallholder Farmers

Nuup partners with major food companies and local buyers to develop traceable, sustainable sourcing strategies. 
They help corporates meet environmental and traceability commitments while directly connecting them with smallholder farmers. 

“The starting point with corporate partners is often improving traceability, supply chain transparency, and sustainability performance. We leverage these priorities to strengthen smallholder engagement and co-create value chains that are both socially inclusive and environmentally responsible.”

Nuup’s value proposition is to help corporates achieve both sourcing and sustainability goals, often combining funding from different departments (sustainability, sourcing, foundations) for holistic projects.

In 2024, Nuup collaborated with over 124 food buyers and farmer organizations to develop innovative sourcing and sustainability models. These partnerships have involved local stakeholders, including Grupo Altex, as well as major international food companies such as Danone, Mars, and Diageo.

3) Collaborating with Partners across Sectors to deliver an Affordable Tech Solution enabling Smallholder Farmers to Access Information, Traceability, and Markets

Nuup develops and deploys digital tools for farmer organization management, traceability, and impact monitoring, tailored to the needs and capacities of smallholder farmers and their organizations. One of Nuup’s tech solutions, now spun off as the social business Sirio, offers affordable, modular solutions and is scaling regionally. 

Sirio was officially launched as a stand-alone social business in 2024 as a result of a co-creation process with three coffee farmer cooperatives in Southeastern Mexico. Sirio raised $500,000 from the Inter-American Development Bank, which is a recoverable grant linked to social and environmental impact targets.

“Scaling a social tech solution for smallholder farmers requires extremely low pricing and broad reach. Sustainability comes from serving a large number of cooperatives, which necessitates regional expansion and continuous adaptation.”

The platform now serves over 40 cooperatives and 15,000+ farmers in Mexico, Guatemala, and Honduras, with plans to double the number of co-ops in the coming year and expand to Colombia and Peru.