Colombia
In rural Colombia's post-conflict areas, smallholder farmers possess agricultural knowledge and entrepreneurial drive but often lack access to commercial markets, customized training and startup capital needed to operate sustainably.
With support from the Whole Foods Market Foundation, Acceso has been able to bridge the gap between smallholder farmers—many of whom are women—and commercial buyers, acting as an intermediary committed to strengthening farmer productivity, incomes and bargaining power.
When Acceso Colombia began to formalize its training program to lend to smallholder farmers in 2024, they set out to prioritize the most economically and socially vulnerable segments. By equipping these farmers with farming tools, practical training, and a market, Acceso helped farmers build more sustainable livelihoods. By providing input packages on credit (including seeds and fertilizer), Acceso supports these farmers to produce the crops with the highest market demand so that farmers can earn the best price. In 2025, for example, Acceso Colombia provided farmers with fertilizer, farming tools, and sweet potato seeds, an uncommon but in-demand crop.
By providing comprehensive training in agronomy and market demand, Acceso is opening pathways to financial independence and long-term resilience for hundreds of farmers.
Through this partnership, Acceso is proving that food systems can work for everyone, not just those in power. By investing in rural farmers, the most instrumental stakeholders in the food system, the Foundation is helping create opportunities for financial stability while supporting sustainable farming methods and promoting local market access.
Our collective impact is transformative. Farmers participating in Acceso programs see significant improvement in their incomes providing a genuine and sustainable path to upward mobility.
These skills add to farmers' growing expertise, creating opportunities for financial independence and lasting stability. Farmers working with Acceso use their knowledge and networks to uplift their communities—harvest after harvest.
