Agriculture remains an important means of alleviating poverty, but shortage of finance can constrain its development. At the same time agriculture is evolving towards a global system requiring high-quality, competitive products and organized in value chains which often exclude smallholders. Value chain financing in agriculture offers an opportunity to increase the scope and reduce the cost and risk of financing to agriculture. It can also help value chains become more inclusive, by making resources available for smallholders to integrate into higher value chains.

Agricultural Value Chain Finance provides a comprehensive look at the models, tools and approaches used by industry leaders in all parts of the developing world. These are described, analyzed and illustrated using many rich examples in order to demonstrate how they work and to extract lessons and applications for others to adapt. The book includes 40 industry examples and 5 comprehensive case studies to enrich learning.

This book is essential reading for bankers, microfinance practitioners, credit union leaders working in agriculture, NGO practitioners, agribusiness technical staff, researchers and policy makers.

Table of Contents:

About the Authors
Acknowledgements
Preface
1) Introduction
2) Understanding Agricultural Value Chain Finance
3) Value Chain Business Models
4) Agricultural Value Chain Finance Instruments
5) Innovations
6) Lessons Learned and Summary Recommendations
List of Conferences
References
Index