By Zuwena Shame
Across Africa, millions of smallholder farmers work tirelessly every season to feed their families and communities, yet many still struggle to access the financing they need to grow.
Without affordable and reliable credit, even the most hardworking farmers find it difficult to invest in quality inputs, irrigation, mechanisation and improved farming practices.
On the other hand, climate shocks continue to threaten livelihoods, while financial institutions often view smallholder agriculture as too risky to finance at scale.
At ACRE Africa, we have learned one critical lesson over years of de-risking agriculture across the continent: sustainable increases in farmer productivity will only happen when farmers can confidently access credit and insurance is the catalyst that makes such lending possible.
This insight has driven ACRE Africa to pioneer innovative climate risk management and digital de-risking solutions that bridge the information gap between lenders and farmers.
Through advanced ground and satellite data analytics, AI-powered advisories, climate scoring, yield forecasting and digital farmer support tools, we are helping financial institutions better understand agricultural risk while empowering farmers to make more informed decisions.
The impact so far:
In 2025, ACRE Africa facilitated insured agricultural credit for nearly 500,000 smallholder farmers across Africa, unlocking financing worth approximately USD 150 million. But the challenge remains immense. Africa’s agricultural financing gap is estimated at over USD 100 billion with only 5.0 percent of lending directed towards agriculture.
To help address this challenge, ACRE Africa, together with ZEP-RE (PTA Reinsurance Company), entered a landmark partnership with Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation, Crédit Agricole Assurances and Agence Française de Développement (AFD) to scale climate insurance and digital finance solutions for African agriculture.
Supported through a EUR 2.2 million initiative funded by the Government of France and AFD,
this partnership will accelerate the deployment of innovative de-risking tools to financial institutions and agricultural value chains across the continent.
Together, we are targeting the mobilisation of USD 1 billion in agricultural credit for smallholder farmers over the next three years. This is more than a partnership agreement. It is a bold commitment to transform agricultural finance in Africa by making lending to farmers safer, smarter and more inclusive.
Such milestones call for great initiatives with lending institutions, impact investors, and development finance actors: the opportunity to transform agriculture in Africa is here. De-risking solutions now exist that make agricultural lending not only viable but scalable and profitable. Partner with ACRE Africa and its ecosystem to unlock credit flows, expand the agricultural portfolios with confidence, and directly contribute to building climate-resilient food systems across the continent.
ACRE Africa: De-risking agriculture. Unlocking sector investment opportunities. Building resilience!