The Food Securities Fund (FSF) demonstrates how targeted financial innovation can unlock sustainable and equitable agriculture financing. Developed by Clarmondial with support from the Global Environment Facility (GEF) through Conservation International, the fund leverages blended finance to channel investment into agricultural supply chains in emerging and developing markets. By providing pre-harvest working capital, FSF enables businesses to adopt sustainability practices earlier in their operations, improving smallholder farmer livelihoods while enhancing resilience to economic, weather, and natural disaster shocks.
Access to capital before harvest is crucial, as the absence of affordable funding often limits the adoption of climate-smart solutions and regenerative practices. The FSF addresses this gap with an innovative, sustainable, and scalable model. Using catalytic capital from the GEF’s Non-Grant Instrument program and risk-sharing with agricultural companies, the fund blends public and private resources to generate measurable environmental and social outcomes. As an evergreen fund delivering quarterly performance, it effectively aligns the interests of long-term institutional investors with the needs of agricultural supply chains.
Beyond financing, the FSF aims to accelerate biodiversity conservation, climate change mitigation, land restoration, and rural livelihoods. Its portfolio spans Latin America to Sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on businesses that engage smallholders and prioritize traceable, sustainable sourcing. This model is particularly valuable in volatile commodity markets like cocoa and coffee, where pre-harvest access to capital strengthens resilience and facilitates the adoption of sustainable practices.
According to Tanja Havemann, Director of FSF and Founder of Clarmondial, pre-harvest financing is critical to building resilient supply chains, benefiting smallholder farmers, their business partners, and local economies. In its first four years, the FSF has restored 150,962 hectares of land, implemented certified sustainable practices on 377,680 hectares, sequestered 215,939 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, engaged 95,181 smallholder farmers, and supported 2,679 jobs. By 2030, the fund aims to manage at least 2.1 million hectares and positively impact 700,000 people, contributing to global environmental goals on biodiversity, desertification, and climate change.
