Scaling-Up Access to Finance for Agricultural SMEs

The development of SME Finance in the agricultural sector was also identified as an important issue to bring forward food security and to reach the Millennium Development Goals. IFC conducted analytical work with the objective of identifying appropriate approaches to calculate or reduce the main risks and costs that inhibit access to financial services in the agricultural sector in developing countries. A stocktaking exercise was conducted on approximately 60 case studies and an outreach process was initiated, especially with African partner countries, supported by the Partnership “Making Finance Work for Africa”. This effort led to a report presenting several guidelines for policy and regulatory frameworks conducive to agricultural finance.