The Foundation is committed to small agricultural businesses

© Godong

The Council on Smallholder Agricultural Finance (CSAF) is the leading global network of social financiers promoting an inclusive financial market for producer organizations and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in agriculture. Since 2013, CSAF's 16 members and affiliates have provided $5 billion in loans to agricultural SMEs, providing market access to 3.4 million smallholder farmers in 65 countries across Africa, Asia, and Latin America.

After being accepted as a CSAF affiliate in June 2020, the Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation is continuing its commitment in 2021 by participating in the construction of a memorandum of understanding to specify the principles and protocols for restructuring and rehabilitating loans.

The need for a memorandum of understanding

Increased cooperation among CSAF members has generated positive collaboration among lenders, resulting in additional funding and technical assistance for borrowers. In some cases, however, there has been a lack of coordination, resulting in suboptimal outcomes for both lenders and borrowers. The Covid-19 crisis has heightened the need for clearly stated principles on loan restructuring.

Collective work

CSAF members held several workshops in March 2021 to develop and articulate explicit expectations for loan restructuring. Following these workshops, a working group was established to develop basic principles, outlined in the Memorandum of Understanding, that members can follow during loan restructurings. The Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation contributed to this reflection and the Commitment “Key Principles to Protect Microfinance Institutions and Their Clients in the Covid-19 Crisis” was a useful resource.

Download the memorandum of understanding here.