https://www.high-endrolex.com/46

GAIN and Incofin IM announce new collaboration to improve diets and nutrition in Africa

Photo: Incofin

New Nutritious Food Financing Facility (N3F) will equip African SMEs with financing and skills to make nutritious and safe food more available and affordable.

The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and Incofin Investment Management (Incofin IM) have announced a new collaboration to take forward and manage the newly established Nutritious Food Financing Facility (N3F).  The N3F aims to increase the availability of safe, nutritious foods among low income populations in Sub-Saharan Africa by providing financing and technical assistance to Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs), which produce and distribute most of the locally produced nutritious food in the region.

The N3F will be funded through a combination of public and private funding.  GAIN and Incofin IM anticipate that this initial funding will attract an additional targeted US$ 50 million of blended sources of capital, including private investment, to address the financial needs of SMEs supplying nutritious foods.  The N3F is expected to be launched in late 2020.  The Fund, developed with the support of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has also secured commitments from The Rockefeller Foundation and Irish Aid.

“The opportunity to become fund manager for N3F came at the right moment, as Incofin IM is widening its investment in agri-value chains to food and nutrition. We are convinced that the Fund’s focus on Africa, a region well-known to Incofin IM – will achieve a high level of impact.”  Loïc de Cannière, Managing Partner and Founder of Incofin IM.

GAIN will act as the technical sponsor of the facility and will be responsible for managing the technical assistance component of the facility as well as measuring impact, using nutrition-focused criteria and tools it has developed.   GAIN has a strong track record of providing technical and financial support to emerging and frontier market SMEs that generate positive nutrition outcomes along the agricultural and food value chains through programs including the Marketplace for Nutritious Foods, the GAIN Pre-Mix Facility and the Postharvest Loss Alliance for Nutrition (PLAN).

Incofin IM will act as the exclusive N3F fund manager and investment adviser.  A leading emerging markets fund manager focused on rural and agricultural finance, Incofin IM’s fund management and advisory experience includes the creation of 6 proprietary funds and the advisory of 7 managed accounts. In particular, the Fairtrade Access Fund (FAF), was launched in 2012 with the aim of contributing to the development of a fair and sustainable agriculture sector. It is an evergreen fund operating in Latin America, the Caribbean and Africa, providing debt products to Small Producer Organizations and agri-SMEs involved in sustainable agriculture value chains.

Full press release

This article was originally published by Incofin