Smallholder farmers are the backbone of the global food supply, producing up to 30% of the world’s food. Yet despite their essential role, many still struggle to break free from poverty. Opportunity’s Agriculture Finance program is dedicated to removing barriers for smallholders by equipping local financial institutions with the tools and capacity to invest in smallholders directly, creating lasting solutions for those long excluded from formal banking.
That vision was at the heart of this year’s Agriculture Finance Summit themed “Propogate”. Over three days, 26 leading financial institutions and key stakeholders from across Sub-Saharan Africa came together with policymakers and community leaders to explore how financing smallholder farmers can strengthen weather resilience, unlock opportunities for women and refugees, expand access to education, and build healthier, more sustainable communities. Collectively, these institutions have already lent more than $500 million to smallholder farmers.
The summit’s success was driven by the leadership of financial partners, as the summit also marked the first in-person convening of Opportunity International’s AgFinance Community of Practice. AgFinance’s goal is to connect smallholder farmers with credit so that farming communities can grow more and earn more, and this would not be possible without the financial service providers (FSPs) that serve these farmers.
This year’s summit highlighted both the progress already made and the opportunities ahead for advancing inclusive finance.
Key Themes and Takeaways
The summit spotlighted both achievements accomplished to date and urgent priorities for the future, such as:
- Scaling weather-related finance and regenerative agriculture for resilience
- Expanding inclusion for women farmers
- Embedding and expanding microinsurance to safeguard financial stability
- Sustaining digital innovation such as DreamSave and financial identity tools
Throughout the week, leaders were challenged to consider every challenge through the eyes of smallholder farmer from rural Africa who expanded her livelihood through AgFinance solutions. With a commitment to human-centered design strategies, the convening aimed to innovate new tools and services at the ground level.
We saw powerful examples of transformation in agricultural lending for people living in extreme poverty. Partnerships are shifting perceptions in Malawi, where banks that once avoided agricultural lending are now expanding portfolios. In Uganda, where smallholder farmers produce 80% of food but rarely have access to financial services, AgFinance emerged as a critical lever for change.
These gaps underscore both the urgency and the potential for scaling solutions. Expanding access to financial services is not optional—it is the foundation of food security. The collective work among the attending institutions have reached over 500,000 smallholder families across the continent.
Policy and Systemic Commitments
In his keynote presentation, the Governor of the Bank of Uganda, Dr. Michael Atingi-Ego, highlighted both the urgent need and the potential of financing smallholder farmers. Uganda has already seen measurable growth through agricultural finance, and the country’s “tenfold growth strategy” aims to transform Uganda into a food surplus producer.
Through partners like the Agricultural Credit Facility, Uganda is expanding affordable loans, particularly targeting women and youth through localized, group-based approaches.
Dr. Atingi-Ego outlined four key pillars for growth:
- Propagating Trust
- Propagating Resilience
- Propagating Abundance
- Propagating Value
By prioritizing these pillars, farmers can grow their businesses, strengthen markets, and build sustainable futures. But systemic change requires coordination: governments, FSPs, and donors must align investment with farmers’ needs.
Empowering Women Farmers
Women make up 66% of Sub-Saharan Africa’s agricultural workforce yet remain largely excluded from credit, land ownership, and extension services. Opportunity AgFinance’s Guaranteeing Rural Opportunities for Women strategy is working to close this gap by helping FSPs develop tailored financial products, training their teams to better serve women, and using data to track and strengthen impact.
At the summit, Dr. Asongo Abraham, CEO of Jaress AgriFinance, called for financial products that build women’s resilience ranging from collateral-free loans to weather-smart lending practices.
Overall, the message is clear: Women are better borrowers but also face the greatest barriers. Financing women farmers strengthens families, communities, and entire nations. Investing in women is not only equitable: it is smart economics.
Financing Regenerative Agriculture
In discussions on regenerative agriculture, panelists emphasized how microfinance institutions are channeling investment into resilient practices for a changing world. Cooperative networks and savings groups are proving both scalable and successful in reaching smallholder farmers, while digital tools are connecting farmers to markets and sustainable technologies.
For agriculture, finance access is one tool for a frontline defense against increasingly unstable weather. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, closing the gap in farm labor, productivity, and wages between men and women could increase global GDP by nearly $1 trillion and reduce the number of food-insecure people by 45 million.
Driving Digital Innovation
This year’s summit prioritized the need for constant digital innovation to ensure we are best serving smallholder farmers. The DreamSave initiative is one tool that demonstrates the impact that digital innovation can have. It is transforming Village Savings and Loan Associations by digitizing records, reducing meeting times by up to 65%, and creating reliable data that opens doors to formal financing.
Already, more than 1,000 groups across five countries are benefiting. This innovation is building trust, efficiency, and financial visibility for communities long excluded from the formal financial sector.
Looking Ahead: Priorities in Action
Finance is not about products. It’s about people.
When designed inclusively and implemented with vision, finance unlocks potential, enabling farmers, refugees, women, and communities to weather challenges and thrive.
This summit confirmed that progress is possible when financial partners lead with courage and innovation. Their work—expanding portfolios, testing new products, and listening to clients—fuels transformation.
AgFinance is not just a program; it is a pathway to resilience, inclusion, and lasting impact that will help farmers grow more and earn more.
