The impact investment company, Acumen, has secured $58 million through its Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund (ARAF). The funds will go to companies that support small scale farmers to adapt to climate change.
Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund is managed by Acumen Capital Partners, anchored by Green Climate Fund (GCF), and supported by the French development institution PROPARCO, IKEA Foundation, the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank, Global Social Impact, among other notable investors.
ARAF’s Managing Director Tamer El-Raghy said, “Smallholder farmers feed the world, but they are among the most affected by the climate crisis”. It is estimated that smallholder farmers produce up to 80% of the food consumed in Africa. The farmers face growing threats from soil degradation, shifting weather patterns, severe storms, and more climate-related disasters. In addition, limited access to finance and structural inefficiencies worsen the situation for the farmers.
Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund aims to build an ecosystem that enables farmers to raise their incomes and increase their resilience.
Acumen Founder and CEO Jacqueline Novogratz said, “The world’s poorest communities are often those hit hardest by the negative impacts of climate change. While wealthier people can afford to adapt, rebuild, and relocate, the poor are left to fend for themselves. At Acumen, much of our work focuses on helping low-income people, particularly farmers, adapt to and become resilient to climate change.”
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