Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund (ARAF)

Project Document

Supporting pioneering and early-growth innovative agribusinesses that enhance the climate resilience of smallholder farmers.

Agriculture is a major industry in the target countries, and up to 80 percent of farmland is managed by smallholder farmers who are highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Climate resilience is key to ensuring a long term sustainable increase in agriculture productivity and incomes for smallholder farmers.

The Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund (ARAF) will improve climate resilience to ensure long-term sustainable increases in agriculture productivity and incomes for smallholder farmers. It will shift the pattern of investment in climate change adaptation activities in Africa from grants to a long-term capital approach, enabling smallholder farmers to respond to climate change more efficiently and effectively. It will support innovative private social entrepreneurs in micro-, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) by providing aggregator and digital platform and innovative financial services to smallholder farmers.

The project has an estimated lifespan of 12 years.