The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and FMO, the Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank launched a formal partnership which aims to increase investments in favor of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and small-scale producers operating within the agribusiness sector in developing countries.
According to the Memorandum of Understanding, over the next two years, FAO and FMO will work with members of farmers’ organizations, staff of SMEs and rural microfinance institutions to improve agri-business management skills, sustainable agroecological and processing practices and food loss-reduction techniques. The pilot project of the partnership will be undertaken in Kenya.
Through this unique partnership, the two institutions will work to improve access to finance for all actors along the agricultural value chain, enabling small-scale producers, cooperatives and SMEs in the agribusiness sector to grow and operate in a more environmentally and socially responsible manner.
Roberto Ridolfi, FAO Assistant-Director-General for Programme Support and Technical Cooperation, hailed the partnership as a step forward in combating rural poverty and hunger.
“The private sector is key for guaranteeing economic development, food security and ultimately, prosperity of rural areas. We look forward to working with FMO to increase investments in favour of rural development, also in line with FAO’s AgrInvest initiative, aimed at promoting and facilitating private sector contributions in sustainable agriculture and agribusiness”.
The collaboration combines FMO’s private sector expertise with FAO’s technical knowledge.
Original source: FAO
Published on 18 October 2019
