CBZ and Youtap Digitise Agricultural Finance and Input Distribution in Zimbabwe

CBZ, working through the Agro-Yield programme, deployed Youtap's agricultural finance technology to digitise how farmers are onboarded, receive agricultural inputs, transact with approved suppliers and settle their seasonal financing after harvest.

The solution connects farmers, CBZ, Agro-Yield, agricultural input suppliers and the Grain Marketing Board through one controlled digital process. It replaces fragmented manual activities with traceable farmer accounts, input balances, voucher redemption, loan records, payments and settlement information.

For CBZ, the deployment provides greater visibility across the agricultural financing lifecycle. For farmers, it creates a simpler way to access approved inputs and understand their available allocation. For suppliers and programme administrators, it provides a consistent record of what was issued, where it was redeemed and how each transaction affects the farmer's loan position.

The agricultural finance challenge

Seasonal agricultural finance is different from an ordinary cash loan. Farmers commonly receive approved quantities of seed, fertiliser, chemicals, fuel or other inputs required for production. Those inputs may be collected at different times and from different suppliers during the growing season. The value actually claimed must be tracked before the final repayment amount can be established.

Manual processes make this difficult to manage at scale. They can delay farmer onboarding and disbursement, provide limited visibility into how approved finance is used and make it harder to coordinate banks, programme administrators, suppliers and crop buyers.

Loan recovery also depends on connecting the original input financing to the proceeds received when the farmer sells the resulting crop. Without a structured settlement process, the bank has less control over repayment and the farmer may have an unclear view of the amount owed.

CBZ and Agro-Yield required a digital platform that could support the complete process rather than addressing onboarding, vouchers, payments and settlement as separate systems.

How the Youtap solution works

Each approved farmer receives a Youtap account containing an e-money balance and separate balances representing the agricultural inputs allocated under the programme. These balance types allow the system to track quantities of approved inputs as well as their financial value.

Before an input is collected, the allocation operates as an available entitlement. When the farmer redeems seed, fertiliser, chemicals or another approved product, Youtap records the transaction and incrementally updates the farmer's loan balance. This converts the value of the inputs actually claimed into the amount to be repaid, rather than treating the entire initial allocation as cash already advanced.

The approach gives CBZ and Agro-Yield a clearer record of input utilisation while allowing farmers to draw down approved supplies as they are needed during the season.

Digital farmer onboarding

Farmer and farm information is collected and verified through the programme's established registration and approval process. Approved farmer details, KYC information, contract references and input eligibility are then provisioned into the Youtap platform.

Youtap creates the farmer account and the associated input balances for the relevant agricultural season. The platform supports the operational teams responsible for creating farmers, registering farms, configuring seasons and administering approved allocations.

The deployment includes an onboarding portal, customer-management system and administration portal, providing authorised teams with the tools required to manage farmer accounts and programme activity.

Secure voucher redemption

Farmers can redeem their approved inputs through participating suppliers and Grain Marketing Board depots. The redemption process is designed to confirm the farmer, the available allocation and the products being collected before a transaction is completed.

A farmer presents their unique voucher number at the redemption point. The system retrieves the relevant farmer information and available input balances. After the cashier enters the products and quantities being collected, a verification code is sent to the farmer's registered mobile phone. The code is provided to the cashier to authorise completion of the transaction.

The resulting receipt records the farmer, voucher, supplier or depot, items collected, quantities, remaining allocation, cashier and transaction time. The same transaction becomes available to authorised Agro-Yield teams for reporting and loan administration.

Merchant applications, cards and point-of-sale deployment

The Youtap Merchant App allows participating suppliers and depots to create a basket of agricultural inputs, accept the farmer's authorised payment method and record the redemption against the correct account.

The solution supports voucher-based transactions and digital payment methods including cards, QR codes and USSD according to the configured channel and farmer journey. Farmers can also use an Ezzytap payment card at supported NFC-enabled terminals.

The programme extends across approximately 400 point-of-sale locations in Zimbabwe, giving farmers access to approved redemption points while providing CBZ and Agro-Yield with a centrally managed transaction record.

Inventory and programme control

Youtap's inventory-management capability allows authorised teams to configure agricultural inputs, quantities, prices, suppliers, warehouses and redemption locations. Each completed redemption reduces the farmer's available input balance and updates the associated financial record.

Real-time transaction dashboards provide visibility into programme activity. Customer-management tools show transaction summaries and individual transaction details, while administrative tools support product and season configuration.

This creates an auditable connection between the farmer's approved allocation, the physical inputs collected and the loan value created through those transactions.

Settlement after harvest

After using the inputs during the growing season, the farmer sells the resulting produce through the programme's designated buying process. The settlement workflow connects the proceeds of the crop sale with the farmer's outstanding agricultural finance.

The loan amount and applicable interest are accounted for through the settlement process, with the remaining proceeds paid to the farmer's CBZ bank account and the loan repayment directed to the relevant Agro-Yield account.

By linking input redemption, loan balances and harvest settlement, the solution gives CBZ a more structured approach to agricultural loan recovery and gives the programme a traceable record from initial allocation through to repayment.

Deployment architecture

The CBZ and Agro-Yield implementation combines multiple customer and operational channels with Youtap's core transaction platform:

• farmer onboarding and account provisioning;
• farmer, farm and agricultural-season administration;
• digital wallets and multiple input balance types;
• voucher generation, distribution and redemption;
• merchant applications and NFC-enabled point-of-sale terminals;
• USSD and mobile channels for accessible farmer services;
• agricultural product, warehouse and inventory management;
• customer and transaction management;
• loan-balance updates based on inputs collected;
• integration with CBZ's banking environment and relevant programme systems; and
• reporting and real-time operational dashboards.

The platform is API-driven and designed to integrate with existing banking, telecommunications and programme infrastructure. It supports controlled access for the different organisations and operational roles participating in the agricultural-finance ecosystem.

The Youtap agricultural finance solution

The deployment demonstrates how Youtap combines digital banking, payments, merchant commerce and operational integration to solve a specific industry problem.

Youtap's AgriWallet capability provides the farmer-facing wallet, multiple balance types, transaction history and accessible payment channels. YouBank capabilities support digital onboarding, accounts and lending workflows. YouPay provides wallet and payment services, while YouAccept supports merchant acceptance, cards, QR, USSD and point-of-sale management. YouShop capabilities support agricultural product, inventory, ordering and merchant operations.

These capabilities operate through a shared platform rather than separate applications. The result is a connected agricultural-finance environment that can follow a farmer from registration and input allocation to redemption, production, crop sale and final settlement.

For financial institutions and agricultural programmes, this provides a practical foundation for expanding rural financial access while improving control, transparency and coordination across the agricultural value chain.