Heifer, Mastercard & KCB launch digital payments initiative for dairy farmers

KENYA – Heifer International Kenya, Mastercard, KCB Foundation and KCB Bank Kenya have launched the Farmer Visibility Project, a digital payments initiative targeting 30,000 smallholder dairy farmers to improve access to finance, strengthen dairy cooperatives and support investment in productivity-enhancing inputs, including quality animal feed.

The nine-month pilot will digitise milk deliveries, payments, savings and input purchases, creating transaction records that can help farmers access formal credit while improving transparency across Kenya’s dairy value chain.

“Smallholder farmers are entrepreneurs. They are business owners, suppliers, employers and investors in their communities. Yet many remain invisible to the financial systems and markets that could help them grow,” said Wairimu Munyinyi-Wahome, Country Director, Heifer International Kenya.

“The Farmer Visibility Project is helping change that by making farmers more visible and better connected to finance, markets and the opportunities they need to thrive.”

According to Heifer, many dairy farmers continue to rely on cash payments and informal record-keeping, making it difficult to secure financing for key production inputs such as commercial feed, improved breeding stock and animal health products. 

Delayed payments within cooperative systems also reduce farmers’ cash flow and encourage informal milk sales.

The project seeks to address these challenges by supporting farmers and cooperatives with digital and financial literacy, account opening and digital payment tools.

For the feed industry, improved access to finance could increase farmers’ purchasing power, encouraging greater adoption of quality dairy feeds and nutritional products that improve milk yields and animal performance.

Mastercard is funding the initiative, with Heifer serving as the lead implementation partner. 

Through its Farm Pass solution on the Community Pass platform, Mastercard will provide digital farmer profiles, payment tracking and value chain connectivity, while supporting digital payments, card issuance and input purchases.

“Through our investment and the deployment of our Farm Pass solution, farmer transactions will be digitized, their traceability strengthened, and more seamless access to payments and financial services enabled,” said Shehryar Ali, Senior Vice President and Country Manager for East Africa and Indian Ocean Islands at Mastercard.

“By helping farmers build secure digital transaction records, we are not only supporting greater financial inclusion but also creating stronger foundations for long-term growth and resilience for dairy farmers across Kenya.”

KCB Foundation will support farmer engagement, cooperative strengthening, financial literacy and project coordination, while KCB Bank Kenya will facilitate farmer banking, digital payments and access to financial services.

“Sustainable community development begins by creating opportunities that enable people to participate meaningfully in the economy,” said Mendi Njonjo, Managing Director of KCB Foundation.

“Through the Farmer Visibility initiative, we are combining digital innovation, financial inclusion and practical agricultural support to help smallholder dairy farmers build resilient businesses, increase productivity and improve household incomes.”

If successful, the pilot could provide a scalable model for modernising dairy payments and cooperative systems across Kenya, while strengthening investment in feed, genetics and animal health to support higher milk production.

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