Call for Exhibitions

The Agricultural Sector continues to be a key economic and social driver of development in Kenya. The economy of Kenya is primarily dependent on agriculture Although agriculture provides livelihoods to many, access to agricultural finance is often difficult. The financing sector has remained largely non-responsive to the needs of various agricultural actors and in some instances, poorly crafted solutions have been developed.

The gap has resulted in the emergence of formal and informal financing mechanisms that lack the scalability, capacity, quality and quantity to respond to the needs. Formal sectors such as government subventions and donor support lack scale while alternative income sources such as, social networks and sale of assets have been sub-optimal alternatives for raising the much- needed capital for investing in the sector.

Rootooba and key partners in the agriculture financing space are convening the Financing Sustainable Agricultural Transformation Conference, a two-day event planned for October this year to be held in Nairobi, Kenya. The Conference aims to bring together actors in the agricultural sector to engage on financing the sector and also on the appropriate models for funding agricultural activities. The landscape conversations will bring out challenges that will inform subsequent discussions with financing solution providers and beneficiaries.

The discussions will include designing financing solutions to ensure relevance to the wide range of beneficiaries, and de-risking approaches for injecting capital such as blended financing. The conversations will also seek ways to support beneficiaries, specifically the small holder farmers, to remain responsive and prepared to onboard financing solutions.