The Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund (ARAF) has secured an additional $90 million in committed capital to scale climate-resilient agribusinesses across Africa, building on the success of its current investment activities launched in 2020 that became the world’s first equity fund designed to build the climate resilience of smallholder farmers.
ARAF invests in fast-growing food and agribusinesses that help smallholder farmers adapt to climate change, expanding beyond its current activities in East and West Africa into North Africa as well. The fund has already directly reached more than 3 million smallholder farmers through its 12 portfolio companies, with more than 80% of farmers reporting an increase in income and yield as a result. Its future ambition is to create direct impact for at least four million additional farmers.
Smallholder farmers produce nearly 80% of Africa’s food, yet climate shocks (drought, flooding, and increasingly erratic rainfall) put their livelihoods, and the food systems that depend on them, at direct risk. When a harvest fails, the damage ripples from a single farmer’s income out to the regional food supply. Limited access to finance, inputs, agronomy support, and markets only compound the vulnerability, leaving farmers with few tools to absorb the shock.
ARAF is designed to meet that gap by investing in fast-growing, scalable companies whose business models help farmers adapt and become more resilient to climate change. The fund uses a blended capital structure, with concessional funds designed to absorb early losses and crowd in private money for investments long considered too risky for purely commercial capital.
Current anchor investors in the newly committed capital include returning partners the Green Climate Fund, FMO, and Proparco all of which backed ARAF since inception joined by new investors Swedfund, BIO, and FASA, alongside a family office investor.
The Green Climate Fund, which served as the anchor investor in ARAF I, has increased its commitment to expand the fund’s geographic reach and scale up climate-resilient investments for farmers. “GCF, having served as the anchor investor in ARAF I, through our ongoing partnership with Acumen has demonstrated how blended finance can mobilize private capital for climate-resilient agriculture,” said Catherin Koffman, GCF Director of the Africa Region.
“Climate change is a fact of life, and climate resilience for farmers is the difference between a good season and the risk of losing everything,” said Tamer El-Raghy, Managing Director of ARAF. “This newly committed capital allows us to continue supporting climate resilience for farmers, while seeking to provide financial returns for our investors as we expand beyond East and West Africa into North Africa, where millions of farmers are affected by climate change”.
“ARAF proved that resilience is investable, not theoretical,” said Acumen’s President and Chief Investment Officer Carsten Stendevad. “We’re bringing more blended capital and more partners to the table to help smallholder farmers across Africa adapt to a changing climate. This is the kind of capital the moment demands”.
