TOR153: Defragmenting agricultural markets with Jason Wendle of the Rural and Agricultural Finance Learning Lab

Because I am something of a super geek, and what I like to think of as the new-old guard (I mean, I had a TRS-80 in my house growing up), when I hear the term "defragment," the first thing I think of is hard drives. Fortunately, for everyone's sake, that's not what we are here to talk about today. Instead on today's 153rd Terms of Reference Podcast, I speak with Jason Wendle. He is the Director of the Rural and Agricultural Finance Learning Lab, which focuses on identifying more and better financial solutions for smallholders. In our conversation, Jason and I discuss the continued fragmentation of the financial market seeking to serve small hold farmers and how the Lab and its many partners are working to connect the dots between the necessary trifecta of access to markets, knowledge, and finance. I'm sure you'll love this talk about the types of financial difficulties facing smallholder farmers, how fintech is starting to bridge the gap, but also how, ultimately it will also take a conscious evolution from traditional lenders to find true scale and sustainability.