Innovative Finance
Financing agrifood systems in developing countries is critical to achieving the 2030 Agenda. Yet the current financing gap amounts to hundreds of billions of USD.
Innovative finance – impact investing, fintechs, carbon finance, blended finance and other de-risking instruments – can help bridge that gap.
The FAO Investment Centre’s advisory team supports partners like the European Commission, the European Investment Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the World Bank to do more and better in the agrifood lending sphere.
Knowledge and evidence-based analysis are key to de-risking investment and improving investment planning. In 2025, the Centre supported the European Union in more than five strategic value chains (including cocoa, cashew, coffee, soy, rice and organic fertilizers) across nine African countries. Joint studies are helping to identify investment opportunities – such as coffee in Uganda, cashew and cocoa processing in Côte d’Ivoire – and potential public-private partnerships.
FAO’s portfolio of climate-related financing projects is also growing, helping countries and financiers meet their climate commitments.
One highlight from 2025 was publication of the first comprehensive global assessment of agrifood systems in the voluntary carbon market. FAO’s Investment Centre and Office of Climate Change, Biodiversity and Environment collaborated with the Alliance of Bioversity International and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture on the report, which looks at the potential to unlock new additional private finance for agrifood systems from companies purchasing carbon credits.
Initiatives
Latest stories
Directions in Investment
What to expect from impact funds investing in agrifood systems across low- and middle-income countries?
10/10/2026
A new report by the FAO Investment Centre, in collaboration with Tameo Impact Fund Solutions, seeks to reduce this knowledge gap through a comparative,...
.tmb-th600x400.png?sfvrsn=29314d77_1 "web-banner_21.9-01 (1)")
Directions in Investment
Sustainability-linked loans and the transition to more sustainable agrifood systems
02/06/2026
Agrifood systems are under growing pressure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, protect biodiversity, improve water stewardship and ensure more sustainable...
TERRA: expanding access to finance for Kenyan small and medium agrifood companies
01/06/2026
A EUR 30 million credit line from the Italian bank Cassa Depositi e Prestiti (CDP) to Equity Bank Kenya will ease access to finance for small and...
Investment Briefs
The dos and don’ts of blended finance in agrifood systems – advice to mobilize capital for impact via investment funds
23/03/2026
Blended finance – the use of public or philanthropic money to mobilize private investment for sustainable development – quickly gained traction as...
Latest publications
Prices and farmer investment: Evidence from experimental studies
11/2022
Changes in commodity prices may impact smallholder farmers in various ways: to what extent do higher prices transmit to the farmer (or are they captured by intermediaries)? Can higher prices spur higher investment or lead to better outcomes for farming households, reducing poverty? This Investment Brief highlights key messages from the available experimental and quasi-experimental evidence on this topic and identifies evidence gaps for future work.
FAO Investment Centre – 2021 at a glance
03/2022
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) aims to provide sustainable agrifood investment and finance solutions to...
FAO Investment Centre - 2020 at a glance
07/2021
Making food systems more sustainable is not just about reducing carbon footprints, but also about creating jobs, reducing inequalities, improving efficiencies along supply chains and strengthening people’s ability to cope with climate change. This short summary - 2020 at a glance highlights the recent work fo the Centre.
FAO Investment Centre - 2019 at a glance
09/2020
Sustainable food systems are key to tackling our most pressing challenges – from ending hunger and poverty to preserving the...
FAO Investment Centre - 2018 at a glance
08/2019
Ambitious development agenda calls for extraordinary efforts – efforts that must be financed. Public funding through Official Development Assistance alone...