Agricultural Finance for Sustainable Development, Expanding Agricultural Market Opportunities & Promotion of disadvantaged small farmers and MSMEs

This paper analyzes the role of financing in sustainable development of agriculture, with a focus on disadvantaged farmers and micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). It highlights the benefits of agriculture value chain finance for smallholders and MSMEs. It also looks at agricultural finance and maps different stakeholders offering a variety of financial products against various client segments such as small farmers, traders in the value chains, processors, aggregators, and small and large firms. The paper identifies key drivers of sustainable agriculture finance. It also explores the integration of branchless / mobile banking with agriculture value chains, its potential to transform payments across the value chain, and to link processors, farmers, and suppliers. Finally, the paper explores lessons for Africa from various sustainable finance initiatives in Asia.