EXECUTIVE SUMMARY | 11 standing of the dynamics of household cash flows in this profile could also provide comfort to both Ss and borrowers alie by demonstrating that cer- tain forms of agricultural lending may not be as risy as previously perceived, or that they are at least mitigated by other less volatile sources of income outside of agricultural production­ ªelatively higher-income (or somewhat less poor) households lie those in the Œan—ania sample can also more suc- cessfully postpone crop sales to wait for a better price or purposefully use their stored crops to “save” for a lump sum of money­ †loser connections to buyers and aggregators in the value chain could also benefit this profile­ €n a country with a robust digital infrastructure lie Œan—ania, these relation- ships and services could be enabled via digital channels­ Such services could facilitate the creation of purchase agreements or formal contracts, for exam- ple, against which smallholders could borrow for fertili—er, an oft-cited need among the Œan—ania sample households­ • Smallholders in the relatiely tight alue chains in the ‚aƒistan sample need financial tools that facilitate their relationships with middlemen, as well as a range of other mechanisms to reduce their dependence on them Œhe sample in aistan faced ma„or agricultural spending at the beginning of each season and relied on one ma„or buyer to finance these inputs and also purchase their production­ Œheir longstanding connection to these middle- men did facilitate a range of other financial services, including holding sav- ings and financing family milestones and emergencies, and allowed them to refinance and bounce bac after a bad harvest­ £ut the general terms of their agreement reuired repayment immediately after harvest, forcing small- holders to sell when prices were lowest­ €n efforts to create a paper trail of transactions and purchase agreements to improve the transparency of these relationships, as well as build a credit history of interest to formal financial institutions, digital solutions could play a role­ ¦ver time, such a system could help smallholders find alternatives to middleman as sources of credit, thereby allowing them to wait longer to sell their agricultural production at higher prices­ Œo compete, however, other service providers would need to emulate the flexibility and proximity of middlemen while offering improved terms­ Ss might also focus on middlemen as a maret in need of expanded financial tools­