The European Union and FAO launched AgrIntel in 2018 to enhance the analytical and decision-making capacity on agrifood investments for better targeting, efficiency and alignment with the Sustainable Development Goals.

What’s at stake

Investing in agrifood systems in developing countries is critical to ending poverty and hunger, as well as achieving broader sustainable development. Yet the annual funding gap stands at hundreds of billions of USD. In sub-Saharan Africa alone, three out of four small and medium agricultural enterprises (SMEs) lack sufficient access to finance.

Blended finance – the strategic use of development finance to mobilize additional capital towards sustainable development in developing countries – has gained traction as one of the tools to help bridge this gap.

What’s being done

Since AgrIntel’s start, the European Union has invested over EUR 200 million in four blended investment vehicles financing agrifood SMEs or financial institutions active in the agrifood sector.

It has injected first-loss capital in the Africa Agriculture and Trade Investment Fund (AATIF), the Agri-Business Capital Fund (ABC) and the Huruma Fund, where its equity contribution is mixed with other funding sources like development financing institutions (DFIs), foundations, family offices and other private investors. It has also set up the Agriculture Finance Initiative (AgriFI) facility to reach the “missing middle” and mobilize co-financing from European DFIs and other investors.

An advisory team from the FAO Investment Centre, drawing on FAO’s vast technical expertise, supports the review process by evaluating the financial, social and environmental sustainability of investments and technical assistance proposals considered by the four blended funds.

Through AgrIntel, FAO also works in partnership with the European Union to support investment identification and design, capacity building, knowledge products and analytical work. Investment support work usually follows a value chain approach and spans more than ten strategic value chains including cocoa, cashew, coffee and others.

At a glance

• From January 2019 to December 2025, the four blended funds have contracted financing for 130 sustainable agrifood projects for a total signed amount of EUR 580 million.
• 29 countries have been targeted by investments through these blending instruments. Most projects are in Africa (68 percent), Latin America (23 percent) and Asia (6 percent), while 3 percent have a global impact.
• Of the transactions signed, 47 percent are with agrifood SMEs or corporates working with smallholders, while 53 percent are with financial intermediaries, such as microfinance institutions, local banks or impact funds, that on-lend the funds to agrifood SMEs and farmers.
• Projects cover a wide range of value chains, from grains, oilseeds and pulses to nuts, cocoa, coffee, fruits, vegetables and dairy.
• FAO Investment Centre has also contributed to the design of EUR 94 million of EU action documents (Angola and Uganda).
• Knowledge and analytical work to inform investment decisions targeted more than 10 different value chains (cocoa, cashew, coffee, organic fertilizer, rice, coffee, soy, shea, poultry, tropical fruits, grains and other selected ones) in 10 countries (Angola,  Benin, Côte d'Ivoire, Kenya, Liberia, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda and Zambia).