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Agricultural Lenders Report Nearly $600 Million in Credit to Businesses Reaching Two Million Small-Scale Farmers

Lending grows by over 70% since 2013, yet agriculturalSMEs face ongoing challenges and risks Nairobi, Kenya – Members of the Council on Smallholder Agricultural Finance (CSAF) today announced in their Year in Review report that they provided $597 million in loans to 672 small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) during 2015. This financing helped to fuel an estimated $3.7 billion in combined annual revenue among these businesses, which connect more than 2.1 million smallholder farmers—over one-third of whom are women—to domestic and international markets. CSAF is an alliance of nine leading

The Council on Smallholder Agricultural Finance hosts “State of the Sector” webinar on June 30, 2016

The Council on Smallholder Agricultural Finance (CSAF) will be hosting a “State of the Sector” webinar on Thursday, June 30, 2016 at 10:00 a.m. EDT / 16:00 CEST. The discussion will feature data and insights on the evolving credit market for agricultural SMEs, including: Growth and risk trends from 2015 Market outlook for 2016 and beyond What’s needed to grow the sector and expand impact Q&A Featured participants include: Brian Milder , Executive Vice President, Root Capital (Representing CSAF) Blaine Stephens , Chief Operating Officer, MIX (Data Partner) Carina Torres , Agriculture

When the South partners go green: panorama of environmental initiatives

There can be no talk of sustainability without thinking about environmental sustainability. Climate change is affecting our planet and the problems this brings are numerous. Solutions do exist and some local initiatives are flourishing. This is the green side of the Force! Financing sustainable agriculture Agriculture is a sector greatly affected by climate change. Alterfin is investing EUR 24 million in 59 partners who work in sustainable agriculture. In total, over 100,000 small farmers and producers are financed across the world. Together, they cultivate 420,000 hectares of land

Belgian social impact fund Kampani makes its first investment

The largest union of coffee cooperatives in Burundi has just opened its own processing plant inside the country. This has been made possible with Belgian funding, specifically an investment of 214,000 dollars by Kampani, an investment fund. This is the first investment for Kampani, which was set up last year by the King Baudouin Foundation, Vredeseilanden, Trias, Alterfin, SIDI, Louvain Cooperation, Boerenbond and other organisations. Kampani is a so-called social impact investment fund, whose aim is to encourage entrepreneurship in agriculture. Focused on Africa, Asia and Latin America,

Take part in Alterfin's development

In its efforts to improve its functioning, Alterfin’s Board of Directors is looking for two new board members . Find the profiles we are looking for below. The Board of Directors also wishes to compose a network of external experts . This network will consist of people wanting to share ad hoc and on a voluntary basis their expertise. The desired fields of expertise are vast: human resources, IT, back office, marketing, law, finance, networking, etc. Want to enhance Altefin with your knowledge? Send us your contact information and your field(s) of expertise at candidates [at] alterfin [dot] be

Alterfin in the SCAA and at the Social Performance Task Force

The SCAA (Specialty Coffee Association of America) is the unmissable event in the coffee sector where everyone involved in the sector (producers, importers, financial backers, etc.) meet up. Alterfin participated this year again in the event that was held in Atlanta from 14 to 17 April. Alterfin took also part in the Social Performance Task Force in Marrakesh, Morocco, from 30 May to 2 June 2016. This conference is attended by inclusive finance players and considers the social aspects of investments. Our Peruvian partner, San Juan del Oro, flanked by Saul and Nilton of Alterfin at the SCAA

Welcome to Loes and Louis

Alterfin welcomes two new team members: Loes Verbeeck and Louis Guézou. Loes becomes our part-time Human Resources officer while Louis is joining the Latin America team as investment manager. Welcome to both of you!

Alterfin: reforestation project in the Peruvian Amazon to compensate CO2 emissions

In order to offset our CO2 emissions, Alterfin decided to continue financing the reforestation project being undertaken by one of its partners, the Acopagro cooperative in the San Martin region in the Peruvian Amazon. This project involves planting native trees within the producers’ cocoa plots in order to develop model agroforestry systems which will ensure the long-term future of cocoa crops. As well as reducing the carbon impact, agroforestry brings many other benefits. The agroforestry systems make it possible to protect biodiversity. They also use little fertiliser, enabling farmers to

Cocafcal wins a Fairtrade Award

Honduran coffee cooperative Cocafcal, an Alterfin partner, has won a Fairtrade Award from Fairtrade International in the ‘Small producer organisation of the Year’ category. Well done! More info

2015 retrospective: highlights

In 2015, Alterfin’s share capital jumped 7.1 million euros to pass the 50 million euros mark by the end of the year. 56,215 families in 30 developing countries benefited from access to basic financial services. Alterfin’s capital continued its strong growth in 2015. With an increase of 7.1 million euros, it stood at 50.9 million euros at the end of the year. 56,215 families benefited directly from Alterfin’s work With the capital raised, Alterfin was financing 131 partners in 30 developing countries on 31 December 2015. Alterfin developed collaborations with partners in Panama and Burkina

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