Technical Assistance Facility
TechnoServe serves as the manager of the Technical Assistance Facility (TAF), which supports the African Agriculture Fund, a private equity fund, to address food security challenges across Africa. TAF provided technical assistance to small and growing businesses (SGBs) invested in by the African Agriculture Fund, and improved linkages between enterprises and smallholder outgrowers.
Context
Small and growing businesses (SGBs) play an increasingly critical role in efforts to improve food security and reduce poverty for growing rural populations across the developing world. Agribusiness SGBs can provide key products, services and income opportunities, but in rural Africa, agribusinesses face an unpredictable financing environment. These businesses are often considered too large for microfinance and too small for bank loans. Financial institutions typically lack the rural officers, management experience in agriculture and willingness to assume agribusiness-related risks, while local lenders often base loan eligibility on available collateral, which SGBs may lack. Without intervention, high potential agri- and food-focused SGBs will struggle to get off the ground.
Opportunity
With access to finance and technical assistance, outgrowers and agri SGBs can build sustainable, profitable enterprises that create opportunities in their communities.
Strategy
The Technical Assistance Facility (TAF) was designed to support the African Agriculture Fund (AAF) in addressing food security challenges across Africa. The AAF is a fund managed by Phatisa, an African private equity fund manager, focused on the agriculture and food production sectors.
The purpose of the TAF is to provide technical assistance to agribusiness SGBs that receive investment through the African Agriculture Fund and improve linkages between enterprises and smallholder outgrowers. This allows AAF-supported SGBs to create new opportunities for smallholder farmers, farmer business groups and rural communities.
By providing technical assistance to SGBs and smallholder farmers supplying AAF portfolio companies, TechnoServe aims to boost productivity, increase incomes and improve access to finance and markets across the continent.
Read the five-year review of TAF.
Results
Since 2011, TAF has worked with 10 AAF portfolio companies to reach over 16,000 low-income beneficiaries with a target of increasing their incomes by over $2 million. A full five-year review of case studies and impact can be found here.
Partners
Technical Assistance Facility is funded primarily by the European Commission, overseen by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and co-sponsored by the Italian Development Cooperation, United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) and the African Agriculture Fund (AAF).
The African Agriculture Fund (AAF) is a food and agri-focused pan-African private equity fund managed by Phatisa.
Contact
If you require more information on the Technical Assistance Facility or the African Agriculture Fund, please contact:
Abigail Thomson
Program Director athomson@tns.org
