Since inception, EDFI AgriFI has committed more than EUR 40 million to projects, providing support to more than 2 million smallholder farmers. To do so, the EU-financed facility has been investing in private sector entities focusing on farmers’ livelihood improvement. Concretely, AgriFI has enabled small and medium enterprises, financial institutions and impact funds to access long term funding via debt, quasi-equity and equity investments. As a result, we contributed to the development and consolidation of stronger agricultural value chains, and therefore, to fostering food security and access to nutritious food at sub-regional, national and sometimes even regional levels. As the most vulnerable parts of the population live in rural areas, investing in small-scale farming directly benefits the local socio-economic situation and reduces its dependency on external assistance. By doing so, our investments also contributed to the fight against poverty and hunger, while promoting inclusive growth.
The objective of the InfoPoint session is to highlight some of the AgriFI accomplishments since its launch and provide insights into the utilisation of EU blending instruments to unlock, accelerate, and maximize sustainable agriculture finance. This event will present the consolidated results of AgriFI i.e. both at Global and Regional and Country Windows levels. Discussions will touch upon both impact and financial considerations to reflect on AgriFI’s first 5 years of operations. Some concrete case studies will also be shown to highlight AgriFI relevance on the ground in emerging markets. Finally, the AgriFI team will draw the lessons learnt and suggest some avenues for reflection for the future.
