NOTE: The INVEST project closed in September 2024. All data is accurate as of that date, but this page is no longer being updated.
Agricultural development has been central to USAID’s mission since its founding. USAID seeks to build resilient communities and countries, enhance their well-being, and improve food and water security.
Increasing access to finance for the agricultural sector is critical. However, the agricultural sector has traditionally been a difficult one for investment. Many agricultural businesses fall into the “missing middle,” too large for microfinance yet too small for commercial banking. Few investors are willing to accept lower returns or to make investments that are riskier, more expensive to monitor, and harder to implement.
Through INVEST, USAID sought to test different approaches to mobilizing private capital for agriculture. Our activities took place in multiple regions and intersected with other development objectives, such as gender, climate, and health.
Over seven years of project implementation, INVEST mobilized $192,186,606 for agriculture. 9% of that capital raised was for gender-related activities, and 22% was for climate-related activities.
Stories
Supporting a new fund for sustainable agriculture
With catalytic funding from USAID, MCE Social Capital launched the MCE Empowering Sustainable Agriculture (MESA) Fund to scale economic opportunities within local communities, enhance the climate resilience of smallholder farmers, and empower women in agriculture. As of late 2023, the fund had raised $41.6 million and had begun to make its first investments into agri-SMEs around the world, such as Colombian sustainable coffee company Azahar.
Read more: Coffee and a Cause: How a New Fund is Improving Farmer Livelihoods in Colombia and Beyond
Read more: USAID Support Catalyzes New MCE Fund Focused on Sustainable Agriculture
Expanding incentive models for agri-SME growth
With USAID support, Aceli was able to explore opportunities to adapt its incentive model—that encourages lending to "missing middle" agricultural businesses in East Africa—to a new geography, Mexico.
Read more: From East Africa to Latin America: Expanding Incentive Models for Agri-SME Growth
Providing tailored financing for women agricultural entrepreneurs in Southeast Asia
USAID provided catalytic funding through INVEST to help launch the Beacon Fund, which provides fit-for-purpose financing to women-led and women-owned businesses in Southeast Asia. The Beacon Fund's second investment was into Hoa Nang Organic, an organic rice company in Vietnam.
Read more: Sustainable agriculture needs more investment in women at the top — not just bottom — of the pyramid
Unlocking investment to boost income for smallholder farmers in Haiti
USAID launched Haiti INVEST in 2018 to promote and facilitate private investment in Haitian small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Haiti INVEST facilitated an equity investment in SME Acceso, allowing the company to expand its network of farmers, double farmers’ yields and incomes, and scale up new export business lines.
Read more: Lavi Spicy Peanut Butter is Unlocking International Markets
Boosting production and creating jobs in Nigeria
Transaction advisory support from USAID helped Nigerian tomato farm Tomato Jos secure $4.4 million in outside investment, expand production, and increase the incomes of farmers living in one of the world’s poorest regions.
Read more: A Nigerian Tomato-Farming Business Shows the Human Impact of Private Investment
Read more: African Agriculture Is Ripe for Investment: An Interview with Tomato Jos
Read more about INVEST's work with USAID's Bureau for Resilience, Environment, and Food Security here.
Blended finance resources
The following learning briefs are not specific to agriculture, but detail blended finance approaches that have been used in the agriculture and food security sectors and can prove valuable for those looking at ways to mobilize finance for agriculture:
- Mobilizing Investment for Development with Transaction Advisory Services: Learning Brief: Transaction advisory services respond to some of the most important barriers that deter investment into firms in USAID priority sectors and markets. Transaction advisors essentially serve as matchmakers between companies and investors and other finance providers, helping to structure and close deals. This is especially important in developing markets, which tend to have more challenging investment climates.
- Mobilizing Investment for Development with Catalytic Funding: Learning Brief: Catalytic funding is the provision of resources to an investment fund or vehicle designed to mitigate risk and improve the fund's overall viability to attract new investment for development goals. These intermediaries pool resources and distribute risks among investors and are a primary vehicle for blended finance.
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This page is made possible by the support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents of this page are the sole responsibility of DAI and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.
Photo credits: Industree Foundation, Azahar, Nuup, Hoa Nang Organic, Acceso, Tomato Jos.