Hinga Wunguke and Agaciro Development Fund enter partnership to strengthen food systems and to promote agricultural markets
Daniel Gies, the Chief of Party for Hinga Wunguke and Tesi Rusagara, the Chief Executive Officer of AgDF signed a MoU.
Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture (CNFA), on behalf of the Feed the Future Rwanda Hinga Wunguke Activity (Hinga Wunguke), has signed a memorandum of understanding with Agaciro Development Fund (AgDF), Rwanda’s Sovereign Wealth Fund to strengthen food systems for producers and smallholder farmers, and also to create access to formal, profitable, and inclusive markets that benefit women, youths and other groups.
It was signed by the Chief of Party for Hinga Wunguke, Daniel Gies and the Chief Executive Officer of AgDF, Tesi Rusagara.
The partnership aims to identify and implement co-investment opportunities for companies and business models that support farmers to access markets, to adopt better post-harvest handling practices, and to increase access to processing infrastructure that reduces their post harvesting and processing losses. The parties will also work together to identify and support agri-food enterprises needed to better respond to Rwandan consumer preferences and also to develop strategies to improve consumption of safe, nutritious foods.
Through the partnership, Hinga Wunguke, a USAID-funded Feed the Future initiative of 5 years and $28 million USD, will engage with AgDF to increase access to markets for farmers in the 13 districts where Hinga Wunguke operates. “We are glad that this partnership allows us to better support our partners in the AgDF portfolio, such as the Rwanda Fertilizer Company, which will significantly improve farmers’ access to and use of specially-blended fertilizers to increase their production significantly,” observed Daniel Gies, the Chief of Party for Hinga Wunguke.
The primary intent of the MoU is to leverage resources to catalyze, enable, and scale the operations of innovative, market-driven agrifood system businesses capable of improving nutritional outcomes. Using an innovative collaborative financing approach, focusing on co-investment and due diligence, the partnership aims to increase incomes for farmers and agri-businesses in Rwanda starting with AgDF’s current agriculture portfolio. “Agribusiness is a key contributor to the Agaciro portfolio and closing the financing gap for agribusiness companies requires a blended finance approach. Through Hinga Wunguke, Agaciro will be able to access technical assistance which will enhance the ability of Agaciro and other co-investors to deploy more capital efficiently and effectively in agribusiness.” observed the CEO of AgDF.
Hinga Wunguke is the Feed the Future Rwanda Hinga Wunguke Activity aims to increase incomes and improve nutrition in Rwanda by sustainably increasing agricultural productivity and strengthening the domestic consumption and market for high-value and nutritious agricultural products.
AgDF is Rwanda’s Sovereign Wealth Fund with the objective to grow a sustainable and self-sufficient fund with a long-term horizon, investing on a commercial basis, to deliver financial returns to build up public savings and catalyze economic impact in Rwanda. AgDF has a portfolio of agribusiness companies and aims to continue to grow its agribusiness portfolio in the near term.