Financing the climate-smart transition in African agriculture

Smallholders are ready to adopt climate-smart and regenerative practices, but the upfront cost and the wait for returns keep many on the sidelines. The constraint is rarely willingness — it is working capital and risk.

Blended finance, guarantee facilities and patient debt can change that equation, especially when they are designed around the incentives of the agribusinesses that source from farmers. We look at where the capital gaps actually sit across the value chain, and the instruments that move the needle.