Agroecological enterprises (AEEs) – such as individual producers, farming cooperatives, food processing companies or producers of organic agricultural inputs – are essential for improving availability and access to healthy food, bolstering resilience of communities, supporting local value creation and promoting environmental sustainability. As women are more often involved in agriculture and agri-processing than men in Sub-Saharan Africa, AEEs can provide women, as well as and young people, with sustainable and viable employment.
However, most AEEs lack access to finance. For one, agri-SMEs in Sub-Saharan Africa are usually considered high risk, so fewer financial institutions and investors are willing to provide them with financing. Those that are willing typically issue loans (or equity) starting at around USD 500K, which remains well out of reach for most SMEs. Moreover, financial institutions, investors and donors that do provide financing to agri-SMEs tend to prefer those that employ conventional agriculture and agri-processing methods with an almost exclusive focus on productivity gains and little consideration for social and environmental outcomes. These more conventional agri-SMEs are frequently involved in exporting agricultural products and contribute less to improving food and nutrition security of farming communities.
The aim of the iABC programme is to increase the availability of suitable finance for AEEs and support them with business development services and connections to networks of funders and like-minded entrepreneurs. In other words, iABC supports AEEs through improved access to capital, capacity building and connections. The programme also seeks to establish a more enabling environment for AEEs.
To achieve these goals, Biovision produces insightful tools and knowledge products for donors and investors that synthesize the latest evidence about the multiple benefits of AEEs and the investment opportunities they present. To this end, Biovision has developed the Business Agroecology Criteria Tool (B-ACT), an assessment tool that funders can use to identify AEEs and understand their positive effects on food systems. Biovision also recently launched the Agroecology Investment Guide, a comprehensive resource presenting evidence on the social and environmental impact of (AEEs) and making the case for investing in them.
As part of iABC, Biovision is also co-running the Neycha Agrecology Accelerator Programme in Uganda and Kenya, with its partner Shona, that provides tailored business development support along with grants and loans to AEEs. Neycha has a particular focus on empowering women- and youth-run enterprises.
Key stakeholders that Biovision engages with as part of the iABC program include the Council on Smallholder Agriculture Finance (CSAF), the Agroecology Funders Community of Practice and public development banks.
Project budget in CHF :
This project is supported by SDC
Through the iABC programme, Biovision identifies AEE champions and showcases them to investors and decision-makers, in an effort to sensitize these groups about AEEs’ potential to positively transform food systems and their unmet financing needs. Through collaboration with AEEs and relevant business membership organizations, the iABC programme also aims to help establish a more conducive and enabling business environment (regulations, standards, administrative procedures, policy) for AEEs.
Biovision is committed to promoting favourable political and economic conditions for agroecology. An understanding of the potential of agroecology will be increased through well-founded information, through bringing together diverse actors in the food system (for example the private sector, civil society organizations and researchers), and through exchange among decision-makers. The project website agroecology-pool.ch gathers current findings from projects and science and makes them accessible to everyone to support a sustainable transformation of the food system.
