Access to finance for climate-smart agriculture in Vietnam’s coffee landscapes

·       How can improved access to finance benefit Vietnam's agricultural development objectives for small businesses and farmers?

·       How can agricultural projects address poor access to finance, when multiple factors beyond their control influence this issue?

This new report from SNV Vietnam draws upon our first-hand experience implementing development projects for nearly 30 years in the country. In particular, it draws on research and findings from our Café-REDD+ project being implemented in the Central Highlands. The experience of SNV and other actors is that investment by the private sector in development challenges - such as more inclusive, economically resilient, and climate-adapted value chains - is constrained by access to financial services. This is especially the case for smallholder farmers and small enterprises, where the widespread use of informal finance sources and reported unmet demand is evident, highlighting the need to enhance access to responsible finance sources tailored to their specific needs.

Through a wide variety of activities, from enhancing the productivity of farmers and enterprises, to training them in financial literacy and providing support to the financial institutions to better design their products and engage with the customers, SNV's projects in Vietnam and worldwide are already, directly and indirectly, breaking down the barriers to accessing finance for the poorest and most vulnerable groups.

The report describes a framework that all development actors can use to identify challenges and feasible solutions, regardless of the context of their project. The report shows how the Café-REDD+ project’s agricultural development activities have contributed to increasing farmers' ability to access formal and more ethical sources of finance. The report also describes some of the activities and partnerships delivered later in the project to enhance access to finance further.

This framework has already become a tool adopted by SNV in the design and implementation of other projects in Vietnam and around the world, delivering inclusive and market-driven solutions to various challenges in the agri-food sector. It is a useful tool for situational analysis, project design, and retrospective evaluation, as well as a useful communication tool to certain stakeholders such as financial institutions.

Learn more about the Café-REDD project here.

Learn more about SNV's work on Impact Driven Finance here.