news - BII and FMO join forces with the UK Government’s Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office to unlock more value and finance for agribusinesses and smallholder farmers

BII and FMO are funding the expansion of the UK International Development funded Commercial Agriculture for Smallholders and Agribusiness (CASA) technical assistance facility. The facility addresses the lack of access to finance for agribusinesses in developing countries and increases support for successful, inclusive agribusinesses.

Commercially sustainable and inclusive agribusinesses have the potential to transform the global agricultural food system in ways that work for people and the planet. They can drive demand for produce from smallholders while supporting farmers to increase and improve the quality of their yields, create decent jobs in processing, logistics and sales, and increase availability of nutritious food. 

In order to grow and successfully onward invest in smallholder farmers, agribusinesses need to be able to access financing to invest in their businesses. However, they struggle to access the appropriate finance. In sub-Saharan Africa alone, they face a $74 billion finance gap equivalent to c. 84% of demand^[1]. They also typically need specialist support to develop and implement commercially viable strategies that further smallholder inclusion.

That’s where CASA Plus comes in. BII and FMO will each contribute US$3 million to the new, expanded facility alongside the UK Government between 2024-2026, with the intention to extend the platform by at least five additional years.

CASA Plus will provide a combination of post-investment, pre-investment and market-building technical assistance, with three aims:

1. enhance the performance and development impact of existing agribusiness investments;
2. identify and support new high-growth and impactful investment opportunities and
3. collaborate with key market actors to identify and operationalise creative solutions which address barriers that hinder investments in green and inclusive agribusiness models in low-income and lower middle-income countries.

The successful first phase of the project – funded by UK International Development and managed by TechnoServe, a global non-profit organisation focused on inclusive agricultural growth  – has been working with impact investors[2] to identify businesses in their portfolio which can benefit from tailored support to strengthen and/or make their business models more inclusive and climate resilient. To date it has helped 40 agribusinesses to reach c.116,000 smallholder farmers with improved services, boosting farmers’ incomes and climate resilience.

Learn more about our market creation approach at FMO here.