- THE PROBLEM
The missing piece in Africa's
economic transformation: industrial policy.
In spring of 2026, the World Bank acknowledged that its three-decade caution against industrial policy for developing nations had not aged well. In its own words, it now has "the practical value of a floppy disk."
The support infrastructure smallholder farmers need to thrive was one casualty of that era. For most of Africa, state-supported extension services, credit access, and market linkages have been systematically hollowed. The result: crop yields in Sub-Saharan Africa have stagnated. They are now among the lowest in the world.
Hagush is changing that.
33M
Smallholder farmers in Africa
2x
How much incomes could grow within a decade with the right industrial policy
5x
The yield gap separating African farmers from the average farmer in the United States
- THE SOLUTION
Hagush is building grassroots industrial policy.
We build high-yield, tech-driven infrastructure that gives smallholder farmers a coordinated package of support — across extension services, credit access, and market linkages — creating the institutional conditions necessary for reliable, lasting income gains.
We aim to activate and strengthen existing state systems for smallholder farmers from the ground up — connecting the best available solutions to the people who need them most.
The end goal is to double smallholder farmer incomes in real terms within a decade, by closing the yield gap with the rest of the world.
Our approach is inductive. No two communities are the same. What works for highland grain farmers won't work for pastoralists in the lowlands. The goal is a demonstration effect in each case: to prototype a model that gives governments the blueprint to take and scale.
EQUIP
Our starting point is digital inclusion. We make digital devices affordable for farmers. Digital technology unlocks everything that follows — and makes cost-effective service delivery at scale possible.
BUILD
We build tech-driven infrastructure that connects smallholder farmers to a coordinated package of support — extension services, market linkages, and credit providers, tailored to their crop and context.
ACTIVATE
We activate existing state systems — strengthening what's there, advocating for what's missing, and ensuring smallholder farmers are at the centre of development policy. No low-income country has ever reached high-income status without first investing in the sector that employs the majority of its people.
- ABOUT US & WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT
Micro to Macro
Hagush is a global non-profit building grassroots industrial policy. We work where household-level gains compound into economy-wide transformation: smallholder agriculture. The endgame isn't better livelihoods — it's economies that outgrow poverty.
Our Vision
Economies that outgrow poverty, built from the ground up.
"It is not the lack of resources, but the inability to access them, that lies at the root of poverty in the modern world."
Amartya Sen
- OUR IMPACT
Measurable gains.
78%
of surveyed smallholder farmers accessed the internet for the first time.
reported increased income after gaining access to precision agriculture tools.
86%
adopted a satellite-enabled agri-tech platform
to improve yields and income.
100%
report their device has helped them access
health and asset insurance
84%
- THE IMPACT AREAS
Agriculture at the Center.
Where household-level gains convert most powerfully into economy wide dividend.
Beyond food security and income growth, we're unlocking new pathways to financial inclusion, climate resilience, and healthcare access, and income growth.in Sub-Saharan Africa.
— Anchor Pillar
Agriculture & Food Security
Where our intervention has the most transformational impact.
Financial Inclusion
Expanding access to digital financial services — from mobile banking to digital credit — to enable economic participation, savings, and growth.
Climate Resilience
Harnessing technology to monitor environmental changes, share early warnings, and support sustainable practices that protect people and ecosystems.
Healthcare Access
Leveraging connectivity to expand access to healthcare and close structural gaps in service delivery.