By BUUMBA CHIMBULU
ZAMBIA has been named among five African countries set to benefit from a US$14 million allocation by the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP) to the African Development Bank Group (AfDB).
The funding, announced this week, represents the first disbursement from GAFSP’s new private sector financing window, aimed at boosting food security and climate resilience across low-income countries.
The US$14 million would serve as de-risking capital to unlock up to US$200 million in private sector financing, channelled through the newly established Agro-Inputs Risk Sharing Facility, a US$200 million fund hosted by the AfDB. Of the total, US$10 million would be dedicated to de-risking, while an additional US$4 million in grants will fund technical assistance.
The initiative would target small- and medium-sized agricultural enterprises in Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda and Ethiopia, supporting them with access to finance for agro-inputs such as certified seeds, organic fertilizers, mechanisation, and soil enhancers.
The Agro-Inputs Risk Sharing Facility is designed to encourage local banks to extend credit to agro-input suppliers by mitigating perceived lending risks.
The programme is expected to benefit over 1.5 million smallholder farmers and 500 agro-dealers and cooperatives across the five countries.“This first allocation demonstrates the appetite for funders to work together in this new model to solve an age-old challenge of finance for smallholder farmers: risk,” said Natasha Hayward, Program Manager for GAFSP. “Every Program dollar will leverage many more in private investment, multiplying the positive impact on food security and resilience to rising temperatures and unpredictable weather patterns.”
Launched in 2024, the Business Investment Financing Track — GAFSP’s second-generation private sector financing window — blends donor grants and concessional funding with multilateral and commercial finance to catalyse private sector investment in agribusiness, smallholder farmers, and producer groups.
“By targeting agro-input dealers and smallholder farmers, this facility intends to strengthen the entire value chain, from input supply to market access, building food systems able to withstand market shocks, including and especially environmental pressures,” said Philip Boahen, AfDB’s GAFSP Coordinator.
