IslamicFinance.de

For over 6 million Pakistani smallholders with 10 acres of land or less, financing options are very limited and prevent them from building assets over time. Thus, farmers tend to do what has been done for centuries: use Artees, middlemen who have long responded to their agricultural and personal financial needs. Artees directly provide farmers with seeds and fertilizers, and collect the equivalent amount in crops at harvest time. According to some estimats, Artees finance at least 50% of smallholders in Pakistan. Since 2009, farmers in Punjab have had another financing option called Salam, which seeks to give them a bigger role in the decision-making. It is offered by Wasil Foundation.