VIRTUAL LAUNCH
Event summary
On 08th September 2022, a new report dubbed “Towards market transparency in smallholder finance: Early insights from sub-Saharan Africa” was launched in an online event that drew key stakeholders within Financial Service Providers (FSPs) and agricultural value chains globally. The event included thought-provoking discussions with financial service providers and their investors on how they are managing the performance of their smallholder lending portfolios and what that could mean for the farmers they serve.
The report launch highlighted early insights on the economics of smallholder finance portfolios, including key cost and revenue drivers, potential pathways for improved profitability that can help guide investment decisions for FSPs and their funders and reflect on the broader social and economic value unlocked by FSPs and the role of smart subsidy in making FSPs business models both viable and impactful.
You can now watch the event below:
Panelists' comments
“One major reason why there is a huge financing gap with smallholder farmers is because it remains unclear which delivery models are working. I invite you to join us for discussion on how financial service providers can better serve smallholders and scale up operations in ways that fit within their investment strategies,”
Kusi Hornberger, Dalberg Advisors
“As a commercial bank, especially a coop bank, because we don’t have a choice, we just have to work with the farmers, the guarantees and the partnerships, particularly with NGOs and development partners, has been incredible in letting us get into spaces we could not ordinarily get in with a commercial eye. Then we got in and we can’t get out because it’s actually a profitable business or a profitable value chain,”
Esther Kariuki, Cooperative Bank of Kenya
Roel Messie
Chief Executive Officer, Farmfit Fund
Panelist
“You’re going to the FSP and saying, ‘Hey, we have here a value chain that makes sense, it’s profitable. You can partner with that in providing the finance in a way that is much better structured and much more secure,’ because they know it’s backed by a reputable local or international company. These are the approaches that in the end are profitable,”
Roel Messie, Farmfit Fund
“Even with the messiness of the data, we’re still very committed to it because the preponderance of data shows that if you can get the targeting right, then you can realize that outcome. It does require a more nuanced view of the market that you’re working on, and to not think about smallholder farmers writ large but to understand the difference between farmers in a high-value export crop versus farmers in a stable crop,”
Hillary Miller, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
