The new capital will allow AgDevCo to invest more in the eight countries where it is already active – including Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Ghana and Uganda – and expand into new countries, including Kenya and Ivory Coast.
AgDevCo is a specialist impact investor that invests in responsible and sustainable agribusinesses and delivers benefits for smallholder farmers.
Building an export industry
The company backs socially responsible companies like Jacoma Estates in Malawi, founded by a group of British investors, which is pioneering a world-class macadamia export industry incorporating commercial and smallholder farmers.
Jacoma’s estates cover plantation, forestry and cash crops, which it supplies to Europe, Asia, and South Africa.
“Responsible commercial agriculture has a major role to play in creating more jobs, increasing trade and reducing poverty in Africa. We welcome the announcement of the new funding by DFID, which will allow us to build further on the successes achieved by AgDevCo so far,” said AgDevCo’s chairman and founder Keith Palmer.
AgDevCo’s mission is to create jobs, improve food security and boost prosperity in Africa. It has already invested in more than 55 early-stage farming and agro-processing companies to date, supporting around 7,500 jobs and linking over 425,000 smallholder farmers to reliable markets.