Africa in 2020: Less crop loss, more income
Before the coronavirus pandemic, farmers’ cooperatives mainly suffered from fluctuations in global trade and the consequences of climate change. Rabo Foundation therefore focuses on projects that benefit the ecosystem. But we also work on digital solutions to offer better access to financing and markets.
How we work in Africa
In Africa, we encourage local entrepreneurship as much as possible. By supporting cooperatives and companies that create value locally and regionally, we help the farmers benefit from higher incomes. But we also finance local small- and medium-sized enterprises in the food and agricultural sector, because they strengthen the value chain – which also strengthens the farmers.
We offer farmers’ cooperatives loans with favorable terms. If they do well, then we adjust our terms and interest to reflect the market, so that the organizations can prepare to borrow money from standard local banks in the future. In 2020, in Africa, we provided a total of € 7.6 million in loans, technical assistance, trade finance and grants.
We call in local training organizations to help farmers get ahead with knowledge and expertise, for example on how to diversify their crops. That reduces the likelihood of failed harvests, and they learn how to deal with the consequences of climate change, such as extreme drought or heavy rains. The farmers then share the knowledge with others in their cooperative.
Our local team in Kenya is an important element of Rabo Foundation’s strategy. The staff speak the language and know the local customs and environment. Our local team also helps us quickly identify new challenges and potential solutions for farmers.
Our training organization ADC in Uganda trains farmers in the area of financial and digital self-reliance.
Results Africa
8 countries
we are active in Ethiopia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Senegal and Tanzania.
€ 7.6 million
we provided in the form of loans, trade finance, technical assistance and grants.
99
producer cooperatives, savings and credit cooperatives, MFIs and SMEs in Food & Agri were thus given the opportunity to start or scale up their operations. And, by doing so, strengthen the position of smallholder farmers.
€ 162,538
we provided to 14 organizations we supported from our Covid-19 emergency fund.
19%
of our organizations received technical assistance, such as education and training in agricultural techniques and crop diversification.
12
projects in the field of agtech and fintech solutions we financed.
Our impact stories
Great examples of what we and our partners have achieved in 2020.
