IDH Intelligence

A new report from Council on Smallholder Agricultural Finance (CSAF) analyses the risks & challenges #agriSMEs face today when it comes to accessing finance and examines how agricultural lenders are responding. This report reviews 2023 lending activity across 19 financial institutions, totaling $697 million to over 675 businesses across 55 countries. Four key trends from 2023 emerge: 1️⃣ Lending volume decreased, though the number of borrowers grew slightly - particularly across clients borrowing less than $250K. 2️⃣ Risk increased, driven by borrower challenges amid overlapping crises. In particular, risk increased in South America and Africa and for loans greater than $1M.  3️⃣ Coffee activity saw its steepest drop in the past decade. Driven by a volatile market and significant challenges in Peru, coffee disbursements dropped by $86M. 4️⃣ Lenders have increased technical assistance to help borrowers mitigate risk—investing in clients through increased business development services, especially to increase management capacity and build climate resilience. Learn more in the full report: https://lnkd.in/eGKs_JRT Interested in discussing the report’s findings? Join CSAF for a webinar on Wednesday, July 31 at 10AM EDT / 2PM GMT / 4PM CEST to explore how lenders and borrowers continue to navigate risk throughout multiple, overlapping crises and a shifting macroenvironment. Register here: bit.ly/CSAF2024Webinar Aceli Africa IKEA Foundation Smallholder and Agri-SME Finance and Investment Network (SAFIN) AgDevCo IDH Invest Rabobank Oikocredit Kafui Adjogatse, CFA Rosalie Dekker Carolijn Gommans Andrea Zinn #Accesstofinace

In 2019, we partnered with Union Service Stores Limited (USSL) in Tanzania to develop a smallholder-inclusive sourcing model for the maize value chain, reducing their reliance on traders. 5 years later, our business analytics team assessed the impact of the integration of our recommendations, and the results are inspiring: smallholder incomes have significantly increased, surpassing our initial projections, and maize production volumes have increased. Despite higher production costs due to local fertiliser price hikes triggered by the Russian-Ukrainian war, the positive impact on smallholders and the company itself are great to see. Curious to learn more about the transformative impact on Union Service Stores and Tanzanian farmers? Check out the comprehensive report here! https://lnkd.in/eU9T_uAj Steven de Jonge Ann Kitonga Mary Mwema Wouter van Monsjou #FoodSystemsTransformation

How are you addressing the living income gap through your activities? In this edition, we propose two strategies to help companies comply with the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and the Double Materiality Assessment regulations, highlighting the complexity of these issues. Plus, we bring you curated insights, innovations, and investments in the sector. Find this useful? Share with your network! https://lnkd.in/e_fkFFcX Carolijn Gommans Wouter van Monsjou #LivingIncome #Innovation #SustainabilityMatters

👨🎓Congratulations Juan Carlo Intriago Zambrano! Well done 🙌👏

You can also access the income driver calculator through the FarmFit Insights Hub under the tools section: www.farmfitinsightshub.org

“We have to ensure we stay evidence and data driven, and this should underpin all our strategies”. Well said Vaibhav 🙌👏 Transformative decisions including those critical to closing Living Income gaps must be pegged to reliable data

How do you scale a smallholder-inclusive business model? Our evidence shows that scaling operations comes with its own challenges. It is crucial to find the right balance to optimise business efficiency, growth while adding farmer value. Learn more about our findings on scaling operations: https://lnkd.in/eNDwkW57 #Farmfitinsights #smallholderagriculture

Let me tell you about the fantastic week I had in Tanzania! Under the watchful eye of Mount Kilimanjaro, the past week we launched the AgriGRADE pilot in #Tanzania! This was the first time we gathered with our founding partners, IDH , Oikocredit, Agriterra, and SCOPEinsight, providing an excellent opportunity to get to know each other better. From the first hour, the team spirit was sparkling with the personal introductions setting the tone. We discussed the core concepts of the AgriGRADE approach—a systemic, scalable, and interoperable approach to professionalizing cooperatives—and reviewed the results of the Rapid Assessment of 228 cooperatives and their segmentation into four development stages. Furthermore, we practiced using the AgriGRADE Intelligence Center to plan the next steps for tailored capacity building at the four levels. A visit to Union Stores, a trader and processor (dealing with barley, rice, maize, etc.), gave us valuable insights into the challenges faced by the private sector in Tanzania. Despite having a ready market both domestically and internationally, the biggest bottleneck for the company is the lack of working capital. The goal of the AgriGRADE approach is to professionalize at least 60 cooperatives, graduating them to a higher level, and to optimize the supply chain together with buyers/traders like Union Stores. This includes improving their services to cooperatives as suppliers. Access to financing for both cooperatives and agri-SMEs is part and parcel of the AgriGRADE approach. In short, well-financed professional cooperatives as strong market players in efficient and inclusive supply chains...that's AgriGRADE's promise. Icing on the cake was the event on June 26th, where AgriGRADE was officially presented in the presence of Dr. Benson Ndiege, the Registrar of the Tanzania Cooperative Development Commission (TCDC), as well as Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Tanzania, traders, processors, cooperative district officers, farmer cooperatives, and financial institutions. Quite an event! Many thanks to the partners for doing a great job in organizing it. The Registrar's message was crystal clear: the future for Tanzania's 4,300 registered agricultural cooperatives is no other than professionally run, market-oriented, and digitized. His invitation to collaborate with AgriGRADE and its partners in a data-driven way of segmenting, strengthening, and graduating cooperatives was extended. The journey has started... Let's collaborate! Let's AgriGRADE! @Farmfit Fund, World Food Programme FAO International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) EAGC Grain Business Institute (GBI) IFC - International Finance Corporation The World Bank AGRA Ministerie van Buitenlandse Zaken Cindy Van Den Boom Agnes Janszen Marco Schouten Tony Bruggink Hans Perk Marise Blom Lucas Simons Roel Messie Baraka Zebedayo Ntiruhungwa Geoffrey M. Honest Mseri Sharifa Chikaha patrick kagathi, CPA Mascha Middelbeek

Samunnati, India’s largest agri-enterprise, shares valuable insights on income diversification activities from their extensive work with over 6000 farmer producer companies. These companies play a vital role in providing crucial aggregation, market linkages, customised financial services, and advisory support to smallholders. By leveraging innovative strategies and comprehensive services, Samunnati ensures that smallholder farmers are equipped with the necessary resources to enhance productivity and sustainability. Through the ABERA Partnership (Accelerating Business to Empower Rural Women in Agriculture), CGAP and IDH collaborate with Samunnati to boost business innovation, empower women and the knowledge, resources and opportunities to thrive. Read the blog in the comment section below 👇 Jamie Anderson Carolijn Gommans Vishnu Vardhan Reddy Wouter van Monsjou Aseema Sulakhe Catherine Highet Leena Datwani Cesar Maita Azpiri

Are you passionate about driving positive change and tackling global challenges? Do you want to be part of a team dedicated to empowering the private sector to build profitable, mutually beneficial relationships with smallholder farmers? Join our team and work on impactful projects that drive sustainability and innovation, for progress, people and planet. Apply now! https://lnkd.in/eRt-hb8S #JoinIDHIntelligence #CareerOpportunity