For over 20 years, FIPS has strengthened farmers and supported young agri-entrepreneurs. Together with partners, we build resilient and inclusive food systems.
FIPS Africa was founded in 2003 with a simple but powerful insight: smallholder farmers wanted to experiment with new technologies and seed, but they could only do this if presented to them in simple, practical ways with low risk. This led to the birth of the small pack, through which only 1 tonne of seed could enable 40,000 farmers to each experiment with a small trial pack of 25 g. After learning by doing on their own land, farmers could then make decisions about what would work for them and would routinely return wanting to purchase seed of the varieties that were best for them. Seeing that farmers were not ignorant and were demanding to buy their seed, led to entrepreneurs investing to serve farmers with their products.
Essentially, small trial packs of seed (together with advice on how to use them) gave farmers access to practical technologies and trusted support. When scaled to millions of farmers, this approach held immense potential to drive Africa’s food security.
What started as a distribution initiative for small trial packs of seed has grown into a leader in community-based extension, smallholder farmer support, agricultural innovation, and system-wide transformation. Through partnerships with governments, research institutions, and private sector actors, FIPS has scaled programmes that strengthen farmers, markets, and food systems. Over the years, these milestones have created proven models that partners can engage with to drive lasting impact.