This report presents the findings and recommendations of the enquiry on sustainable finance in agri-food systems conducted by the Shamba Centre for Food & Climate for the members of the Global Donor Platform for Rural Development (GDPRD).
The enquiry explored two questions: (i) How are donors working to make their financing more catalytic? (ii) How are donors using their concessional financing to crowd-in commercial financing from development finance institutions and the private sector.
By leveraging Convergence data, the central message is that if donors and development finance institutions (DFIs) take higher risks with their grants and lending, every donor dollar has the potential to mobilize four dollars in commercial finance. When this happens, agri-food small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will have more financing, domestic lenders will participate, and markets will deliver affordable borrowing prices.
