About the Webinar

Many recent efforts to increase the flow of inclusive green finance in agriculture have involved the development of partnerships bringing together a variety of actors, each of which is expected to contribute specific resources and expertise to benefit the project’s end goal. This raises the question of how such partners are selected? What challenges do such partnerships typically face? And what lessons can be learned from past partnerships?

This webinar will feature a fireside discussion with two prominent actors in the area of agri-SME finance in India who will share their recent experience with partnership-based green finance initiatives. The conversation will be moderated by IFAD’s regional climate and environment specialist and will focus on projects that were recently launched by the speakers’ respective institutions, Rabobank and Samunnati, as well as the lessons learned from their enduring collaboration together.

Moderator

Kisa Mfalila, Regional Climate and Environment Specialist, IFAD

Kisa is the Lead Environment and Climate Specialist for the Asia and the Pacific Region (APR) with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). She is responsible for managing environment and climate risks and impacts in agriculture investments at both the strategic and operational levels to deliver on IFAD’s sustainability goal. Her work also involves structuring climate adaptation investments by blending green finance and concessional loans to achieve climate resilience of smallholder farmers in APR. Prior to joining IFAD, she worked with the World Bank and the African Development Bank as a Principal Environmental Specialist. Kisa is an environmental engineer by training having received a MSc. Degree in Environmental Engineering from the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, Sweden.

Speakers

Arindom Datta, Executive Director and Head of Rural & Development Banking/Advisory, Rabobank

Arindom has been working for Rabobank for the last 15 years and has over 28 years of experience in Rural Finance, Cooperative, Microfinance and Agribusiness banking. Arindom is responsible for the sustainability banking initiatives on knowledge, risk management and business development. He also oversees projects in blended finance, technology/innovation and access to finance in the agriculture sector. Arindom is further passionate about following the Agtech developments and its significance for smallholder farmers.
He previously worked with India’s National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, IDBI Bank and CARE. Arindom is a Mathematics honours graduate from St. Stephen’s College and has an MBA with a specialization in Finance and Strategy from the Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode.

Anil Kumar SG, Founder and CEO, Samunnati

Anil is the Founder and CEO of Samunnati. Established in 2014, Samunnati is working on building an open agri-network for farmers with a mission to make markets work for smallholder farmers. In this endeavour, Samunnati focusses on providing customised financial solutions and market linkages. Anil is a career banker with close to three decades of experience in the areas of Rural, Retail and agri-banking. He started his career with Canara Bank and then joined ICICI Bank. Prior to Samunnati, Anil was the co-founder & trustee of IFMR Trust and the CEO of IFMR Rural
Channels. Anil holds a Masters in Management from Asian Institute of Management, Manila. He also holds a Master’s in Business Administration from Symbiosis Institute of Management, Pune and a graduate degree in Humanities from Osmania University, Hyderabad.

Recordings
Webinar recording