CFC Executive Board Approves 10 New Investments Projected to Benefit Over 226,000 Smallholders
Amsterdam, 10 April 2025 — The Common Fund for Commodities (CFC) approved 10 new investments at the 79th Meeting of its Executive Board (EB), held on 9 April 2025. These investments will unlock USD 90.9 million, including a USD 8.2 million commitment by the CFC. Together, these projects are projected to benefit more than 226,000 smallholder farmers and rural microenterprises across Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
The newly approved investments span a wide range of commodity value chains including cocoa, coffee, nuts, spices, sea products, microfinance, and agricultural equipment leasing. They are designed to expand access to credit, improve market access, and foster climate-smart and regenerative agricultural practices in countries such as Colombia, Egypt, Guatemala, Honduras, Indonesia, Kenya, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Uganda.
Highlights include:
- USD 1.5 million loan to One Acre Fund to scale up access to inputs, training and market linkages for over 2.5 million smallholder farmers across 10 African countries, directly impacting 136,000 farmers by 2028.
- USD 1.5 million loan to Akuna Cocoa, a venture co-founded by actor Idris Elba, to scale up cocoa sourcing from smallholders in Sierra Leone—from 300 farmers in 2024 to over 15,000 by 2031—while promoting regenerative agriculture and climate-smart practices.
- USD 1 million loan to EFTA Tanzania to expand its financial leasing portfolio for agricultural SMEs, targeting 3,000 beneficiaries by 2030, including farmers and agri-processors.
- USD 1 million trade loan to FECCEG, a federation of coffee cooperatives in Guatemala, enabling them to expand their speciality Arabica exports while supporting indigenous smallholder farmers and offering diversified income through honey production.
- USD 1 million loan to SAFCO Pakistan to scale rural microfinance and introduce digital agri-credit services through its Agri-One Window Operations platform. SAFCO comprises beneficiaries, 65 per cent of whom are women.
- USD 500,000 working capital loan to Exotic EPZ, a woman-led Kenyan macadamia exporter, supporting their plan to expand sourcing from 6,100 farmers in 2023 to 17,000 by 2029, while ensuring a consistent 20% price premium to producers.
- USD 600,000 loan to Camino Ruiz, a Kenyan fish farming enterprise, to upgrade processing and packaging infrastructure and increase the number of supported tilapia farmers from 2,000 to 8,000 by 2029.
- USD 812,797 project supporting Novaroma, a spice and vegetable processor in Egypt, with a USD 300,000 trade loan to scale up operations and increase smallholder engagement fivefold.
“These are not just investments in commodities; they are investments in people, livelihoods, and climate resilience,” said Ambassador Sheikh Mohammed Belal, Managing Director of the CFC. “We are committed to scaling up innovative, inclusive, and climate-conscious and gender enterprises that uplift the smallholders who lie at the heart of the global food and commodity economy.”
Ambassador J. Eduardo Malaya, Chairperson of the Executive Board and Ambassador of the Philippines to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, emphasized the need for collective action: “The CFC continues to demonstrate how small-scale interventions can drive large-scale impact. I urge Member States and partners to support initiatives like the ACT Fund to further deepen our commitment to sustainable development.”
Featured Voices: A Farmer-Led Vision from Uganda
The Board also welcomed a special presentation from Mr. Julius Kalulu, CEO of JKCC (Joseph Kony Community Cooperative), a longstanding CFC project partner in Uganda. Mr. Kalulu shared firsthand insights into the impact of CFC support on coffee, groundnut and sesame farming communities in northern Uganda—highlighting how access to finance, training, and fair markets has empowered local farmers, increased household incomes, and contributed to regional peacebuilding through inclusive economic development.
Momentum for the ACT Fund
The EB also reviewed progress on the Agricultural Commodity Transformation (ACT) Fund, a USD 100 million impact vehicle designed to de-risk investments in sustainable, smallholder-focused agriculture. The CFC has committed USD 20 million as a first-loss tranche and is engaging with potential cornerstone investors. A parallel USD 10 million Technical Assistance facility is also under development to strengthen long-term resilience and capacity building.
Strategic Developments
- The EB endorsed the CFC’s participation in the G20 Global Alliance Against Hunger and Poverty, aligning with the Fund’s mission to accelerate SDG implementation.
- Humanising Value Chains (HVC) ensures dignity for the smallholders and workers behind our food, goods and even services—using digital tools like ethical tipping to empower them. It creates traceable, transparent supply chains that today’s consumers demand, bridging economic gaps while honouring the labour that sustains us all.
As the CFC works toward its 2025–2035 Strategic Framework, it is sharpening its focus on inclusive finance, ethical value chains, and scalable solutions for climate resilience. By connecting smallholder farmers to global markets and de-risking private investment, the CFC continues to position itself as a bridge between grassroots development and global trade — ensuring that no producer is left behind in the pursuit of sustainable development. Eventually, smallholder farmers and workers receive higher income to drag themselves from the pit of poverty.
The Executive Board was attended by the Ambassadors of Cameroon, Cuba, Burkina Faso, Gambia, Ireland, Philippines, Uganda, Zimbabwe and representatives from Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Ecuador, Germany, Greece, India, Indonesia, Italy, The Netherlands, Peru, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Spain, Sudan, Sweden, Tunisia, United Kingdom, Venezuela, Zimbabwe etc.
For media inquiries, please contact:
[CFC Media Relations Team]
[Email: managing.director@common-fund.org]
[Phone: +31 20 575 4949]