Agricultural finance institutions, and the policies, rules and regulations under which they operate, are lagging behind changes in the “real economy”. Recent years have seen significant innovations in certain countries but these are slow in spreading across borders or, for that matter, across institutions. In these circumstances, decision-makers in farmers’ organisations, financial institutions, government bodies and other institutions interested in agricultural finance should shift their approach from incrementally trying to improve on their existing models to reinventing their business or regulatory models in order to capitalize on all these new possibilities. It is time for a paradigm shift in agricultural finance.

The Fin4Ag conference will help create the critical mass of thinking that enables such a paradigm shift by bringing together leading decision makers from ACP countries to discuss what has been achieved through recent innovative approaches and how to realise their full potential.