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Promoting sustainable agriculture and agri-food models
Proparco supports private stakeholders in the agriculture and agri-food sectors committed to promoting more productive, environmentally-friendly and resource-efficient business models.
Promoting a sustainable future for developing countries and enhancing their food sovereignty involves developing and consolidating all activities across the agri-food value chain. Proparco contributes to this process by supporting projects covering a wide range of sectors and all stages of the value chain, from farm production, processing and storage through to market distribution.
Strengthening production capacity and developing processing activities
By supporting processing activities and logistics infrastructure, Proparco helps to structure sustainable and resilient sectors. Its work aims to enhance farm productivity and profitability, ensure the long-term viability of businesses in the sector, foster the emergence of dynamic players and reduce food imports in the countries concerned.
Project focus - Supporting emergency therapeutic food production
In 2024, Proparco granted a €2 million loan to NutriK – a subsidiary of the French group Nutriset – a Nigerian specialist in the production of foods to tackle different types of malnutrition in urgent conditions. By building a new factory in Kano, the company will be able to offer competitive nutritional solutions tailored to local needs and respond more effectively to the growing demand for food security.
Helping farmers access finance
By granting dedicated lines of credit to committed financial institutions, Proparco facilitates access to finance for farmers and businesses and development of the sustainable agri-food sector. Proparco's actions help secure the incomes of smallholder producers by making it easier for them to contractualise with agri-industry players. They enable beneficiaries to diversify their activities, for example by adding biofuel production or biomass cogeneration, which reduces their vulnerability to market fluctuations.
Project focus - How microfinance is strengthening small players in the agri-food sector
In 2024, Proparco granted a €10 million loan to Alliance de crédit et d'épargne pour la production au Sénégal (ACEP Senegal) designed to bolster the institution's work with smallholder farmers and micro-borrowers throughout the agri-food value chain and to support agricultural micro-enterprises and SMEs owned or managed by women.
Strengthening value chain sustainability
In order to preserve natural resources while supporting local communities, Proparco finances agricultural and agri-food business models with high social and environmental added value. Proparco supports key players in agriculture value chains, providing opportunities for thousands of producers and deploying best sustainability practices.
Project focus - Sahyadri Farms: In India, vines are a joint initiative
In 2022, Proparco invested alongside Incofin Investment Management, FMO and Korys in the Indian agricultural company Sahyadri Farms. The total investment of nearly €40 million will be used to finance the expansion of the cooperative, which comprises 24,000 farmers. It will also be used to deploy climate change mitigation and adaptation measures such as increasing the share of energy produced from renewable sources and a zero-waste policy.
As part of an action programme dedicated to preserving natural capital, Proparco also finances projects to invest in carbon sinks: soil, forests and the oceans. One component of this approach focuses on improving land use in agriculture.
The FARM initiative (Food & Agriculture Resilience Mission)
Proparco has committed to the multilateral, inclusive FARM (Food & Agriculture Resilience Mission) initiative, initiated by France alongside the European Union, the G7 and the African Union to enhance global food security.
FARM is structured around three pillars: trade, to ease tensions on agricultural markets; solidarity, to support Ukrainian capacity and keep food prices at affordable levels; and production, to sustainably consolidate agricultural capacities in the most affected areas.
Key Data
- 815 million euros in direct financing for businesses in the agricultural sector between 2014 and 2023
- 612 million euros of financing via financial institutions and investment funds between 2014 and 2023
Focus
In Sub-Saharan Africa, the ARAF fund is strengthening the climate resilience of smallholder farmers
Published on november 10 2022
Further reading
Private Sector & Development #39 - Food security: the contribution of the private sector
Published on october 16 2023
Private Sector & Development #31 - Scaling up the development impact of agro-industry
Published on march 1 2019
Our news
Sustainable plantations: Proparco supports ECOM towards biochar coproduction
Published on july 18 2025
ACEP Sénégal: how microfinance is boosting small players in the agri-business sector
Published on february 17 2025
