Agriculture Financing, Investment & Trade
Access to finance is what enables businesses to grow their markets
Many finance institutions find agriculture too risky to invest in or may have limited knowledge of what comprises an attractive and feasible product offering in the sector. Consequently, small, and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the agriculture sector struggle to access essential financial services, or can only at high cost, despite their significant contributions to emerging economies. They often occupy the 'missing middle,' a term that describes the widening gap in available funding and the hurdles they face in obtaining the necessary services to grow and scale their businesses. These enterprises are too large to be served by microfinance institutions but too small and high-risk for the formal banking sector to support them. More widely, smallholder farmers, farmer groups, and wider micro enterprises continue to require financing from crisis resilient microfinance institutions, and larger agribusinesses need competitively provided and secure financing at scale to facilitate their export activities. NIRAS works with both investees and investors, including microfinance and traditional banks, to tackle sector challenges. NIRAS connects projects and businesses with suitable financial institutions, offering investment readiness support. For investors, we deliver advisory services to reduce investment risk and enhance the financial and non-financial product offering to SMEs, farmers, women, and youth entrepreneurs. We also support MSME agribusinesses in developing solid business plans, and provide technical assistance to ensure they become bankable clients for financing institutions.
Our understanding of the SME journey
NIRAS works with both investees and investors, including microfinance and traditional banks, to tackle sector challenges. NIRAS connects projects and businesses with suitable financial institutions, offering investment readiness support. For investors, we deliver advisory services to reduce investment risk and enhance the financial and non-financial product offering to SMEs, farmers, women, and youth entrepreneurs. We also support MSME agribusinesses in developing solid business plans, and provide technical assistance to ensure they become bankable clients for financing institutions.
NIRAS has extensive experience using digital solutions throughout the agricultural value chain. Tailored to the needs of farmers, we are experienced in deploying technologies that help to modernise farming practices, unlock financing and cashflow issues and link farms with markets and input suppliers.
Our specialist services:
Highlighted Projects
Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth in Ghana by strengthening trade and competitiveness in key sectors
Ghana Private Sector Competitiveness Programme II (GPSCP II), is a bilateral initiative between the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and the Government of Ghana, aims to promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth by strengthening trade and competitiveness in Ghana’s cashew nut and oil palm value chains. The Programme focuses on improving the enabling environment and boosting productivity and competitiveness in these industries, using demand-driven, context-specific methods guided by the Market System Development (MSD) approach. GPSCP II collaborates with the Tree Crops Development Authority (TCDA) to help fulfill its mandate of advancing target tree crops. Through a Rapid Response Mechanism, the Programme manages a grant fund to support impactful policy and strategy reforms by relevant government bodies, enhancing market systems in both value chains. Additionally, under the Development Partnership with the Private Sector scheme, GPSCP II encourages innovation among stakeholders in oil palm and cashew sectors to address key market functions such as access to finance, skilled labor, and business strengthening for broader sectoral development.
Rapid crisis and recovery solutions, and enhance the resilience of PROPARCO’s partner financial institutions
PROPARCO’s Crisis Emergency Response Technical Assistance Facility (CERTAF), funded by the EU, delivers comprehensive capacity development to banking, microfinance, and non-banking financial institutions (FIs) that serve as intermediaries offering both direct and indirect support to Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) amid health emergencies, global conflict, and climate change. The facility is dedicated to providing rapid crisis response and recovery solutions while strengthening the resilience of PROPARCO’s partner financial institutions. The technical assistance is designed to:
- Provide advisory services to FIs, enabling them to identify optimal strategies for safeguarding employees and customers against current and future crises
- Support FIs in adapting their business models, products, and operations to effectively address the evolving needs of MSMEs
- Support MSMEs to withstand current and forthcoming crises and protect jobs and economic opportunities through business advisory services
- Actively support the water, agriculture, sanitation, and health sector MSMEs
As part of its tailored technical assistance, one of the six partner FIs—a prominent microfinance institution in Senegal—is receiving guidance on the development and implementation of an agricultural financing strategy. This support encompasses overall strategic planning and operational execution, designing microfinance products utilising multi-value chain node financing mechanisms, formulating a corporate sector-specific communications strategy and implementation plan, enhancing banking software systems for improved disaggregation of agricultural loan data, and securing access to climate and green financing guarantees and credit lines for the institution.
