Supporting the food production chain and farmers in India

Founded in 2011, Sahyadri is a company controlled by an Indian cooperative that produces and processes fruit and vegetables for export and the local market. Sahyadri is integrated into the production chain and supports 15,000 smallholder farmers through its supply chain, by providing them with access to high-quality inputs, financing, and regenerative agricultural methods (in particular by optimizing water and pesticide use through connected weather microstations).

Following an initial investment in 2022 under the Series A round of Sahyadri alongside FMO, Incofin (an impact fund in which Proparco is an investor) and Korys, this new investment is taking place in the context of the Series B round of Sahyadri. This new series is raising $40 million from SAGF (Proparco is an investor in two of its Indian funds  dedicated to climate investments) and responsAbility (an impact investor specialized in agriculture). The project will enable Proparco to continue to support Sahyadri, alongside SAGF which is recognized for its expertise in assisting companies towards an initial public offering (IPO). Sahyadri would be the first IPO in India of a company controlled by an agricultural cooperative.

The expected impacts of this financing are as follows:

- This financing has 23% of climate mitigation co-benefits and 15% of climate adaptation co-benefits, in particular with regard to Sahyadri’s intention to take adaptation issues into account in its value chain in a holistic manner

- This financing has 20% of biodiversity co-benefits due to Sahyadri’s farming methods (treatment of effluents, optimization of pesticide use, water resources management)

- This financing supports virtuous agricultural value chains (65% of Sahyadri’s suppliers are smallholder farmers) and contributes to the Bottom 40 indicator

The project will thereby contribute to the achievement of SDG 10 “Reduced inequalities” and SDG 15 “Life on land”.