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Zambia is 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, marks the first disbursement under GAFSP’s new private sector financing window, designed to enhance food security and climate resilience across low-income countries.
According to a statement, 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 this amount, US$10 million would go toward de-risking, while US$4 million in grants will support technical assistance.
The initiative targets small- and medium-sized agricultural enterprises in Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda and Ethiopia, providing them with improved access to finance for agro-inputs such as certified seeds, organic fertilizers, mechanisation, and soil enhancers.
The Agro-Inputs Risk Sharing Facility aimed to encourage local banks to extend credit to agro-input suppliers by mitigating perceived lending risks.
It is expected to benefit more than 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,” she added.
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.
“With the establishment of the Agro-Inputs Risk Sharing Facility, we are planting the seeds of a more food-secure Africa, he added.
The financing initiative comes at a critical time as African countries grapple with the twin challenges of rising food insecurity and climate-induced agricultural disruptions, offering renewed hope for resilient and inclusive rural economies.
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