- TargetedYou fund a known gapThe plot record shows what is missing before anyone writes a proposal about it.
- DirectThe producer receives itFunds go from the sponsor to the farmer. We never hold them, and nobody takes a cut of the support.
- VerifiableYou see what changedThe same plots, the same evidence types, one season later. Attribution instead of anecdote.
How the money moves
Straight to the farmer. We never hold the money.
Sponsors pay producers directly. Tracebud is the layer underneath: it shows who needs what, carries the instruction, and holds the proof that it arrived. We are paid separately, and only where the programme needs the platform.
- We never hold fundsMoney moves from the sponsor to the producer. Tracebud takes no custody, no cut and no float.
- We hold the recordWho was owed what and why, and the evidence that it arrived. That is the part a funder cannot get anywhere else.
- We are paid separatelyOnly where the programme needs the platform. Sponsored producers are never charged for access.
What gets funded
Fund what the data says is missing.
Not a guess from a survey, and not a line item in an annual report. Each of these is something a plot record can show is absent, and show as present a season later.
- 01Field App rolloutGet a region of smallholders mapped and connected, with the app free at the point of use.Evidence: plots registered
- 02Training and good practicesAgronomy, record keeping, shade or soil practice, delivered where the data shows the weakest results.Evidence: practice records over time
- 03Inputs and equipmentSeedlings, drying equipment, storage. The things that decide whether a harvest survives a bad season.Evidence: delivery, then yield records
- 04Premiums and price top-upsClose a gap between what a producer earns and what the season actually cost them.Evidence: receipts and income records
- 05Certification costsAudit and scheme fees that price a smallholder out of a certified market.Evidence: certification status
- 06Land documentationThe papers and legal support a producer needs before any buyer can accept their plot.Evidence: documents on file
Who sponsors
Four kinds of funder, one mechanism.
Whoever pays, the producer is the one who receives, and the record of what changed sits on the plot rather than in a slide.
- Brands and retailersFund your own upstream so the supply base you depend on is still there in five years.Protects supply
- Development fundersReach producers directly, with a record of where the money landed and what it changed.Attributable impact
- Certification bodiesCover the cost that keeps smallholders out of certified markets.Widens the scheme
- Public programmesFund national readiness so producers keep their route to export markets.Market access
Hosting a programme
The machinery already exists. It just points somewhere new.
A sponsorship programme needs the same things a traceability programme needs: a list of real producers, a way to reach them, evidence coming back, and a record of what was handed over. Tracebud does all four today. Pointing them at funding is a configuration, not a new product.
- Live in the platform todayWhat it becomes for a sponsor
- The networkProducers, plots and organisationsEvery actor in a chain, registered with their own record.Your beneficiary list, already verifiedNo enrolment exercise. The producers a programme would reach are already on file, with plots attached.
- RequestsOne request that cascades to sourceSent down the chain until it reaches whoever holds the land.Programme enrolment and consentThe same cascade invites producers into a programme and captures their agreement to take part.
- EvidencePhotos, papers, declarations, boundariesCaptured in the field, offline, against a specific plot.Proof of what was deliveredA seedling planted, a dryer installed, a training attended, evidenced on the plot it was funded for.
- ReceiptsDigital delivery receiptsVolume handed from one actor to the next, kept by both.Proof of payment receivedThe same instrument records that money reached a producer, confirmed by them, with their own copy kept.
- ScreeningAutomated checks as plots landForest loss, protected land, overlapping claims, missing documents.Targeting and eligibilityThe gaps the screening finds are the shortlist a programme funds, ranked by what is actually missing.
- ReportingFramework outputs from one datasetEUDR filings shaped from data collected once.Programme reportingA funder report becomes one more output of the same dataset, not a separate collection round.
Already there
- Producer, plot and organisation records
- Offline field capture and evidence vault
- Cascading requests, consent and receipts
- Automated screening and gap detection
- Season-on-season history on the same plots
Still to build
- Payment instructions and confirmation, including thin-banking regions
- Programme setup: budget, cohort, eligibility rules
- Attribution linking a funded action to a later outcome
- Funder-facing reporting and audit trail
Where we are
Honest status: this one is not built yet.
The traceability underneath it is live in beta and already collects what a sponsorship programme would need. Payments and attribution are what we are designing now, with the first funders at the table.
- Live in betaThe data underneathProducers, plots, evidence, consent and practices, collected once and already in use for EUDR.
- In designPayment instructionsHow a sponsor is told who to pay and how much, who confirms receipt, and how that works where banking is thin.
- In designAttribution and reportingTying a season-on-season change on a plot back to the programme that funded it.
Common questions.
Can I sponsor a programme today?
Not yet. Sponsorship is on the roadmap and being designed with the first funders. What is live today is the traceability layer that a programme would run on, so producers you care about can start being mapped and connected now.
Who does the sponsor actually pay?
The producer, directly. Tracebud does not take custody of programme funds, take a cut of them or hold them on the way. What we provide is the targeting, the instruction and the record that the payment arrived. We are paid separately, and only where the programme needs the platform.
Do sponsored farmers pay anything?
No. The Field App is free for farmers regardless, and a sponsored producer is never charged for access or for being included in a programme.
How is impact verified?
Against the same plots and the same evidence types, season after season. Because the data is collected once and reused, a change in practices, documents or receipts is visible without commissioning a separate study.
Can I sponsor without being a buyer in the chain?
Yes. A funder does not need to be a commercial actor in the chain. Producers can be reached directly, whether or not you buy from them.
Build it with us
Bring the programme. We will build the mechanism.
Tell us who you want to reach and what you want to fund. The first sponsorship programmes are being designed now, on data that is already being collected.