A World Bank Group initiative seeking to finance and transform the livelihoods of 300 million smallholder and family farmers by 2030 could be launched in Rwanda by the end of 2026, The New Times has learnt. The initiative, AgriConnect, was discussed during the Africa Food Systems (AFS) Forum in Kigali on Thursday at a side event dubbed “AgriConnect: The Road to 300 Million.” It seeks to strengthen agricultural ecosystems by improving access to finance, markets, technology and business opportunities, while supporting cooperatives, agribusinesses and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the food and agriculture value chain. The initiative is based on the recognition that family farmers, including about 500 million smallholders globally, produce around 80 per cent of the world’s food. Yet many operate at low productivity levels and have limited access to finance, infrastructure, technology, markets and productive inputs. ALSO READ: Investing in Rwanda’s women farmers means securing nation’s future For Rwanda, the initiative comes as the country seeks to attract more private investment into agriculture and accelerate the shift from subsistence to commercially oriented farming. AgriConnect was launched in October 2025 and has so far been introduced in 10 countries — Angola, Brazil, Ecuador, Ghana, Guinea, Jamaica, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Senegal and Togo. Additional countries, including Rwanda, are preparing their own compacts or implementation plans. In Brazil, the initiative aims to reach one million family farms by 2030, while in Jamaica it is expected to support 75,000 family farmers and unlock new sources of investment for the agricultural sector. Financing farmers at scale Anup Jagwani, Global Director for Farming and Agribusiness at the World Bank Group, said AgriConnect aims to help 300 million smallholder and family farmers access services, markets and finance by 2030. Of these, 200 million farmers are expected to be reached directly through World Bank Group support, while another 100 million will be reached through development partners. “AgriConnect helps individual producers, cooperatives and food enterprises grow their businesses and create quality jobs. It combines infrastructure, technology and innovation, policy reforms and private capital mobilisation to transform the food sector,” he said. Participating countries develop action plans tailored to their priorities, aligning reforms, investments and partners around shared goals, Jagwani said. “This approach enables action and results at a scale no single institution could achieve on its own,” he said. The initiative aims to double annual World Bank Group commitments to agribusiness and agricultural finance to $9 billion by 2030. It also seeks to mobilise an additional $5 billion annually from public- and private-sector partners. ALSO READ: What Africa can learn from Rwanda’s women farmers The push comes amid growing demographic and food-security pressures. An estimated 1.2 billion young people will reach working age over the next decade, while global food demand is expected to increase substantially, by around 30 per cent, towards 2050. “Agri-business is one of the most powerful tools to feed 10 billion people, end poverty and tackle unemployment,” the World Bank says. AgriConnect is supported by international and private-sector partners, including the African Development Bank (AfDB), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Bayer and Google. Africa’s opportunity Africa is seen as having a major opportunity to lead the transformation of its food systems. With the continent’s food market projected to reach $1 trillion by 2030, growing regional integration and rising investor interest could create millions of jobs through expanded agribusiness, stronger value chains and reduced dependence on food imports. AgriConnect is built around six broad areas of intervention. These include advancing agricultural technology and digital solutions to help farmers, particularly women, access services, markets and finance; expanding financial products such as insurance for farmers and agrifood businesses; and strengthening farmer organisations such as cooperatives. The initiative also seeks to expand logistics networks, including transport corridors, storage, warehousing and cold-chain infrastructure, to reduce post-harvest losses and connect farmers to higher-value markets. ALSO READ: New push to expand access to finance for Rwandan farmers Other priorities include creating an enabling environment through policy, regulatory and budget reforms, as well as building the capacity of farmers and agribusinesses and turning agricultural research into commercial solutions. Why Rwanda needs the initiative Participation could give Rwanda another platform to mobilise investment into agriculture, a sector that remains central to the economy and the livelihoods of rural households. Smallholder farmers produce more than 80 per cent of Rwanda’s agricultural output and form the backbone of the rural economy. Telesphore Ndabamenye, the Minister for Agriculture and Animal Resources, said the Fifth Strategic Plan for Agriculture Transformation will require Rwf6.4 trillion through 2029, with 43.7 per cent expected to come from the private sector. He said the Climate-Smart Agriculture Investment Plan, prepared with the International Finance Corporation, has identified $335.4 million, equivalent to about Rwf493.8 billion, in private investment potential by 2030. The plan aims to link 170,200 farmers and 375 companies to climate-smart finance and make 83,250 hectares more productive and resilient. Lessons from farmers The potential impact of initiatives such as AgriConnect was illustrated by the experience of Malawian farmer Clara Kamlomo. Kamlomo started farming near a car repair shop with the goal of creating employment for herself and other young people in her community. She now owns three houses and farms roughly 0.6 acres a month. Her wider impact, however, has come through training. Since 2016, she has trained 16,000 young people through her organisation’s core programme. Her work has earned her recognition among Malawi’s leading business personalities and women in agriculture. Looking ahead, Kamlomo plans to establish a processing plant and advocate for policies that enable the young people she trains to turn their skills into businesses. Her company currently employs five permanent staff and creates work for about 350 people, depending on project size. Commenting on the World Bank initiative, she said programmes targeting young people should recognise their different needs. “Young people’s needs are not uniform, so no single solution will work for all of them. Programmes need to be shaped around what young people are actually asking for, not assumptions about what they need,” she said. Obai Khalifa, Deputy Director for Agricultural Development at the Gates Foundation, stressed the importance of coordinating capital flows so that different types of finance play complementary roles. He said transitions from blended or catalytic capital to private capital are essential for sustaining growth. Victoria Sabula, CEO of the Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund, similarly argued that catalytic capital is most effective when combined with technical assistance. Eunice Mutua, a Kenyan agripreneur who runs a sweet-potato processing company and heads an association of agri-processing businesses across Africa, highlighted the importance of maintaining cross-sector partnerships and improving farmer data. She said the sector needs better information on what farmers produce, the value chains they participate in and where they are located, pointing to Zimbabwe’s national farmer data platform as a model worth studying. If Rwanda joins AgriConnect, the initiative could provide another avenue for connecting farmers and agribusinesses to the finance, markets, technology and infrastructure needed to make agriculture more productive and commercially viable.
