This annual gathering focuses on “sustainable” development in Africa, including as can be promoted via entrepreneurship and impact investing. Attendees will engage on themes such as renewable energy,
Category: Agriculture / Rural Finance
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Global Partnerships, Goodwell, Oikocredit Invest $8.5m in Equity in Good Nature Agro to Boost Profits of Small Farms in Southern Africa
Zambia-based Good Nature Agro recently raised USD 8.5 million in Series B equity from US-based Global Partnerships and two organizations with offices in the Netherlands, Oikocredit International and Goodwell Ventures. Good Nature Agro supports small-scale farmers with: (1) seed selection; (2) financing; (3) access to technology;
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Climate Funding for Smallholder Farmers Drops from $10b to $5.5b in 2 Years
For details on this news item, please refer to:
Report: 44% Drop in Climate Finance to Small-scale Agrifood Systems
https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/press-release/44-drop-in-climate-finance-to-small-scale-agrifood-systems-reveals-need-for-action/
CLIC homepage
https://climateshotinvestor.org/
CPI homepage
https://www.climatepolicyinitiative.org/
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: JuST Institute Preview of Training on Delivering Climate, Biodiversity & Inclusive Finance to Smallholder Farmers Available Online December 12, 2023
The France-based NGO Just Sustainability Transitions (JuST) Institute is holding an online session December 12 to educate potential participants about a mentoring and training program for financial services providers (FSPs) looking to orient their work toward “climate adaptation and biodiversity conservation.” The program, which is for loan officers and managers employed by microfinance institutions (MFIs), takes place online over a period of four to six months. Participation can be part of an MFI becoming certified for
SPECIAL REPORT: Leveraging Carbon Credits to Insure MSMEs in Climate-vulnerable Nations #SAM2023
What a pleasure it was to interview Diana Chepng’eno (pictured below) at SAM 2023 in Togo last month! She is such a warm and energetic person – and deeply engaged in the critical work of climate adaptation and mitigation across Africa and the Middle East.
During SAM 2023, Ms Chepng’eno spoke at the opening plenary session “Making Africa’s Future Sustainable – Climate, Socio-economic Development and Inclusive Finance” as well as a breakout session titled “Helping Financial Institutions Deal with Climate Change – Assessing Risks and Strengthening Institutional Resilience.”
Bob Summers: What are you working on with the V20 group of climate-vulnerable nations (which now comprises 68 low- and middle-income countries)?
Diana Chepng’eno: Sitting within the UN Environment Programme Finance Initiative, under the Principles for Sustainable Insurance, we are ramping up a Sustainable Insurance Facility. We launched the facility in 2022 to advocate for the importance of insurance for micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in V20 countries as a significant driver for mitigating climate change risks. MSMEs, for example, comprise about 75 percent of the total GDP of the V20. Therefore, if we can support these MSMEs by facilitating access to much-needed insurance, so that they may become more climate resilient, then these entire countries can be climate-resilient.
BS: What mechanisms does the facility use?
DC: The work is all based on partnerships. Insurers are critical, of course. We also need firms that
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: AfDB Seeking $1b for African Climate Risk Insurance Facility (ACRIFA) to Boost Microinsurance for Farms, Livestock Against Drought, Floods
The multilateral African Development Bank (AfDB) recently launched a fund called the African Climate Risk Insurance Facility (ACRIFA), aimed at increasing the continent’s resilience to adverse weather events. ACRIFA follows on AfDB’s Africa Disaster Risk Insurance Program, which supported the creation and uptake of insurance products and
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Gendered Investment Differences Among Smallholder Farmers: Evidence from a Microcredit Programme in Western Kenya,” by Keiji Jindo et al
The authors of this study conducted a client-level analysis to examine differences in the investment behavior of female and male microcredit users in Kenya. The scope included
SPECIAL REPORT: Leveraging Financial Inclusion to Get Food Security Back on the Increase #EMW2023
Global food security had been increasing before the COVID-19 pandemic and the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. People with low incomes were becoming more able to access – both in terms of cost and distance – a range of foods such as grains and fresh produce on a year-round basis. However, during the first year of COVID-19, 47 million women fell into extreme poverty, reducing their – and their children’s – access to
SPECIAL REPORT: Yikri of Burkina Faso Wins $110k European Microfinance Award for Progress Toward Food Security #EMW2023
From the European Microfinance Platform (e-MFP): Yikri wins European Microfinance Award 2023 for its commitment to addressing the complex challenges of food security and nutrition in Burkina Faso.
This report is part of
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Whole Planet Foundation Offering Interest-free Wholesale Funding for Microfinance in Latin America, Caribbean
As a part of its goal to reach 300,000 “microentrepreneurs, smallholder farmers, and [members of] vulnerable populations,” the US-based Whole Planet Foundation is accepting applications for loans and grants from “socially-focused microfinance institutions, social enterprises, nonprofit organizations and cooperatives” that provide microloans and related services.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Liberation Community Finance Expanding Branch Network, Product Lineup for Farmers, Women, Youth in Uganda
Liberation Community Finance (LCF), a microfinance institution (MFI) in Uganda, has several new initiatives:
– a partnership with Uganda’s Agricultural Business Initiative (aBi) to develop environmentally sensitive financial products for LCF’s clients who farm crops such as maize and pumpkins;
– a Women Commander model through which women who borrow in groups can earn commissions for monitoring loan repayments and recruiting additional borrowers; and
– a partnership with Uganda’s
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: UNI2 Microcrédito of Colombia Raises $3m in Debt from Triodos Microfinance Fund, Triodos Fair Share Fund
Netherlands-based Triodos Investment Management recently disbursed a total of USD 3 million from its Triodos Microfinance Fund and Triodos Fair Share Fund to UNI2 Microcrédito, a Colombian microfinance institution (MFI), to support the growth of the MFI’s loan portfolio. Established in 2014, UNI2 provides microcredit for purposes such as
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Online Today in Spanish, November 22 in French – JuST Institute Announcing Mentoring Program for MFIs Embracing Biodiversity, Climate Adaptation
The France-based NGO Just Sustainability Transitions (JuST) Institute is launching a mentoring and training program for financial services providers (FSPs) looking to orient their work toward “climate adaptation and biodiversity conservation.” The program, which is for loan officers and their managers, takes place online over a period of four to six months. Participation can be part of an MFI becoming certified for
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: World Bank ARISE Program Includes $230m Loan for Farmers in Ukraine
The Ukraine Agriculture Recovery Inclusive Support Emergency (ARISE) Project – to be implemented by Ukrainian government’s Business Development Fund and Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food – is intended to provide loans and grants to 90,000 farmers to increase production levels during 2023 and 2024. The project includes a loan of USD 230 million from the World Bank, supported by the
SPECIAL REPORT: European Microfinance Week 2023 Is Almost Here! A Tour of the Upcoming Conference’s Sessions and Streams
European Microfinance Week (EMW) 2023, taking place in Luxembourg from 15-17 November, is fast approaching! One of the sector’s premier knowledge-sharing and networking events, EMW welcomes more than 500 professionals, in-person and online, and this year will comprise over 40 sessions – plenaries, breakouts, closed-door roundtables and Action Group meetings – organised across several thematic streams. These include: ‘Inclusive Finance for Food Security & Nutrition’, Green and Climate-smart Finance, Refugees and Forcibly Displaced Persons, Digitalisation, Investing, Financial Health, Client Protection, and Outcomes & Impact, among others. Here is a selection of what attendees can expect:
‘Inclusive Finance for Food Security & Nutrition’ is the topic of the European Microfinance Award 2023, the €100,000 prize awarded annually by the Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, which this year seeks to highlight innovations by financial services providers (FSPs) to safeguard access to quality and affordable food for vulnerable populations and to increase resilience of food systems. EMW2023 attendees will be able to choose from a range of sessions addressing the different dimensions of food security, including:
- An opening plenary to kick off this session stream, which will bring together different perspectives from key stakeholders to address holistically the current challenges in the field and discuss the role of FSPs in food security and building sustainable food systems;
- Creating Supportive Ecosystems to Maximize Supply of Agricultural Products Through Investments and Technical Assistance will focus on
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Joliba Capital Raises $58m in Equity from FMO, IFC, Proparco to Support SMEs, Mid-caps in Central, West Africa
Joliba Capital of Côte d’Ivoire recently raised EUR 55 million (USD 57.8 million) for its newly launched Joliba Capital Fund. The participants in this first close of the fund are the Dutch development bank Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO); the International Finance Corporation (IFC),
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Rite Water of India Nets $8m in Equity from Incofin via Water Access Acceleration Fund
Incofin, a Belgium-based investor in lower-income countries, recently invested EUR 7.5 million (USD 7.8 million) through its Water Access Acceleration Fund (W2AF) in Rite Water Solutions, a company seeking to improve access to clean drinking water in India. Founded in 2006, Rite Water specializes in
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Abler Nordic Leads $10m Equity, Debt Investment Round for Ergos, Agtech Offering Crop Storage in India
Abler Nordic, a public-private partnership whose investors include the Danish and Norwegian governments, recently led the Series B fundraising round of Indian agricultural technology (agtech) company Ergos, which offers crop storage and a digital platform linking farmers to markets. The funding round comprised