One Acre Fund receives $5 million loan to assist farmers in East Africa

Calvert Impact Capital, a mission-driven investor has pledged a $5 million loan to One Acre Fund, a non-profit social enterprise to supply financing and training equipment to support smallholders in East Africa.

The scheme is to purchase agricultural and clean energy products that will be widely available to farmers on credit. Over the next three years, One Acre Fund is expected to support more than one million farmers, pilot programs in new countries, and scout out several other country locations in Asia and Africa.

Their approach is a cost-effective and scalable way to help improve the lives of farm families across East Africa.

“Smallholder farmers need improved access to high-quality inputs, financing, and agricultural training to achieve food security and prosperity in their homes,” said Jenya Shandina, senior manager at One Acre Fund. “Our partnership with Calvert Impact Capital will enable us to deliver services to more farmers, helping create futures of big harvests, healthy families, and rich soils.”

“This is a great opportunity for us to increase our exposure to the sustainable agriculture sector and strengthen our relationship with One Acre Fund, an organization with deep sector and regional expertise,” said Songbae Lee, Director of Investments at Calvert Impact Capital. He added, “We are excited to provide capital to enable them to expand the products they can offer to communities and increase their impact on the ground.”