Agriculture Finance: From Poverty to Sustainability Your Impact Report, Fall 2024
What Is Our Opportunity? 2023–2025 AGRICULTURE FINANCE STRATEGIC VISION To reach 661,000 farmers annually with $109M in agriculture loans disbursed annually through 25 financial service partners and a network of 2,877 Farmer Support Agents in 9 countries.1 Investing in agriculture is one of the most powerful ways to improve rural livelihoods and move out of poverty.
Three out of four people living in extreme poverty are smallholder farmers, surviving on one or two meals a day. Smallholder farmers make up over 80% of Africa’s farmers; most of those farmers produce only 2030% of their potential yields. Opportunity’s AgFinance Program is driven by a singular focus on scaling rural prosperity. Our end goal is to enable farmers to increase production, income, and employment to build thriving and resilient households in rural communities; we want farmers to grow more and get more. Since Opportunity’s program launched in 2009, with your support we have reached more than 1 million farming households and put $432M in agriculture loan capital into rural communities. We currently work in seven countries in Africa: DRC, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda, and Uganda in partnership with 20 financial service partners. ► Farmer Support Agents (FSAs): Farmer Support Agents are local high-performing farmers who are chosen to deliver training Bhahati Zimba, Opportunity’s Senior and facilitate access to markets and support services to improve Farmer Support Agent Coordinator, the health of their fellow farmers’ land. On average, an FSA with crops purchased from the supports 150 farmers. These local leaders are pivotal in providing Tsang'oma village on the outskirts of Lilongwe, Malawi tailored training and services to reach more rural households. ► Climate Resilience: Smallholder farmers are among the most vulnerable people living in poverty; even small changes in climate patterns—not to mention flooding, drought, heat waves, natural disasters—are likely to have a major impact on agricultural production and economic growth. We have added training climate resilience across our ag curriculum. Inputs like climate-resistant seed and drip/solar irrigation, diversification of crops, and managing natural resources—these are key lessons that farmers are applying to be better prepared for the next climate shock. 1
Updated September 2024
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