Finance for Agriculture

Finance for Agriculture (F4A) is a programme working not only to encourage but to generate financing flows to the food and agricultural sectors in Kenya. For a country whose population is growing at over 1 million a year, the consequences of only 4% of aggregate lending coming from financial institutions to a sector which accounts for 26% of GDP is obvious. Not only will such a lack of financing lead to structural imbalances; it is unsustainable. F4A aims to help financial institutions such as banks, MFIs and SACCOs to overcome the shared perception of high risk as well as to develop a vibrant, sustainable agricultural sector that in itself offers attractive investment opportunities. Two sides of the same coin you might say and they will be treated as such: each will be addressed concurrently by 12 different, but interlinked projects. Each project is deeply rooted in commercial principles and has been developed as a means to bridge the financing gap that exists between those financial institutions that require assistance in order to create a profitable agri-finance business line, and potential borrowers. Only then will the world’s pre-determined risk/return parameters be met. And only then will Kenya stand a chance of developing an inclusive, sustainable and profitable food and agricultural sector.