New Trends in Agricultural Finance
Agricultural finance is crucial to support the growth of the agricultural sector. This is essential for food security, job creation, and overall economic growth. This synthesis report, endorsed by G20 Leaders in November 2015 in Antalya, presents a summary of research studies on five key areas of agricultural finance innovation prepared under the G20 Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) and the presentations and discussions of these during the “G20 Roundtable on Innovations in Agricultural Finance” convened on September 9, 2015 in Antalya, Turkey by the SME Finance Subgroup.
After a brief background for setting the scene, the five key research areas presented in the synthesis are:
1) Understanding Demand of Smallholder Households;
2) Digital Financial Services;
3) Financing for Women in the Agricultural Sector;
4) Value Chain Finance; and
5) Agricultural Insurance.
The five areas of emphasis each look at the innovations and trends with the first ones looking at the needs and opportunities for small farmers and women and ways in improve their inclusion into the financial spectrum. The fourth area presents an approach and innovative tools for effective agricultural lending and market inclusion and the fifth area focuses on innovations in using agricultural insurance as one of those tools to address one of the most important risks that inhibit agricultural finance, especially for smallholder households. Given the diversity of topics, the format of the research papers and summaries vary with the theme.The synthesis ends with key messages on the trends and lessons with recommendations for policy interventions and further research and development.
