Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund (ARAF): FP078

Project Outline

This project seeks to support pioneering and early-growth stage innovative agribusinesses that enhance the climate resilience of smallholder farmers (SHFs) in East and West Africa, focusing on climate resilience-enabling investments and by making select investments in enabling ecosystem businesses with indirect yet clear and important benefits for climate resilience.

Country(ies) Uganda, Ghana, Nigeria
National Designated Authority (NDA) Uganda, Ghana, Nigeria1
Accredited Entity (AE) Acumen Fund, Inc. (Direct/Regional)
Executing Entity (EE) Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund LP (Private)
Date of Final FP Submission February 3, 2018
Estimated Project Duration 2018-2030
Target Sector Agriculture/Agri-business
GCF Financing 26 million USD (3M USD (Grant) + 23M USD (Equity)) Micro
Co-financing
  • Acumen: 2 million USD (Equity)
  • Other Investors: 25 million USD (Equity)
  • Capital providers to TA Facility: 3 million USD (Grant)

Project Description

< Major Project Components>

  1. Investment in provision of agricultural technologies to improve resilience (e.g., hybrid seeds, sturdy breeds).
  2. Investment in provision of information and communication technologies (ICT).
  3. Investment in provision of innovative financial services in agri-business.
Proposed legal organizational chart
Proposed legal organizational chart
Ref: FP087 Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund (ARAF)

Potential Indicators of Key Impacts

Expected total number of direct and indirect beneficiaries, disaggregated by gender (reduced vulnerability or increased resilience):

  1. Direct beneficiaries: 2,100,000 persons (50% of total beneficiaries will be female)
  2. Indirect beneficiaries: 7,900,000 persons
    3.9% of the total population
  3. Other relevant indicators: 25-50% of farmers being served by ARAF's investments are living below the World Bank's $3.10 per person per day poverty line.