The Rabobank Foundation supports farmers abroad by helping them to organise and by giving them access to expertise, funding and markets to sell their product. The fund helps agribusinesses to pre-finance purchase, processing and product sales. The Rural Fund finances sustainable value chains in coffee, cocoa, honey, cotton, spices, nuts, peppers, soya and canned and dried vegetables.
Being established in 1973 in Netherlands, the Rabobank Foundation works to improve “the lives of the underprivileged and disadvantages groups of people in society by providing them with the opportunity to live full and independent lives.” It provides funding to NGOs in which half of its funding support is for projects in Netherlands while the other half is allotted to development interventions in developing countries.
Themes
The foundation focuses on two themes
- Access to finance
- Supporting small producers
Focus countries
The Rabo Rural Fund operates in the following countries-
- Europe: Netherlands
- Africa: Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Zambia
- Asia: Philippines, India, Indonesia, Laos and Vietnam
- Latin America: Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Nicaragua and Peru.
Grant Size
The Rabo Rural Fund provides short-term finance as working capital to producer organisations and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The usual term of such loans is one year. The size of the loan generally varies between €200.000 and €1.5 million.
Eligibility Criteria
- The Foundation supports rural poor in the developing countries. NGOs that work on microfinance and cooperatives are eligible to apply.
- It also provides funding support to microfinance organizations, operating independently and providing services to the communities.
- Agribusinesses and cooperatives that have outgrown donations and microcredit but are not yet eligible for standard bank loans can apply for this loan.
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