Proceedings for the Rural Finance Working Group

Publication Date: Aug 2004
Published by: USAID - U.S. Agency for International Development
Document Type: Paper

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What the major issues for donors in the field of rural and agricultural finance?

This paper presents the proceedings of the Rural Finance Working Group Meeting. The objectives of the meeting were to:

• Bring together key donor stakeholders working in rural and agricultural finance (RAF);
• Share information on USAID activities on research and training in RAF and solicit donor input;
• Explore collaborative donor efforts and seek opportunities for collaboration.

The participants identified the major issues in the Rural and Agricultural Finance (RAF), including:

• Agricultural profitability, vulnerability and risk mitigation;
• Knowledge management and coordination;
• Donor and investor participation;
• Increased access to financial services/technology/innovation;
• Focus on the policy dimension and the rural economic realities.

Small groups of participants held meetings and discussed specific ways in which donors can collaborate. These groups aired their concerns in the areas of:

• Training:
  • Donor collaboration is warranted;
  • Unlike microfinance, rural finance does not yet have a wealth of material and curriculum.
• Research and pilots:
  • Understand the context of case studies highlighting innovations;
  • Unit of analysis should answer the specific research question posed and build recommendations.

Finally, the paper presents the tasks that the group agreed to complete before their next meeting, this included:

• Finalize database of donor RAF initiatives: USAID will prompt working group members to correct errors and update projects included in the Rural Finance Donor Working Group Initiatives Database.
• Broaden distribution list of working group: Donors will identify field colleagues who should also receive USAID’s introductory message pertaining to its RAF activities.
• Knowledge management: Training information will be posted on the CABFIN website.