NADF partners German fintech to fund climate-smart farming

The National Agricultural Development Fund has partnered with a German climate fintech company, YAPU Solutions GmbH, to strengthen climate-risk management and financing for smallholder farmers in Nigeria.

The partnership was contained in a statement issued by the NADF on Tuesday, which said the two organisations had entered into a Memorandum of Understanding to promote climate-resilient agricultural finance.

According to the statement, the agreement was signed by the NADF Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer, Mohammed Ibrahim, and the Chief Executive Officer and Founder of YAPU Solutions, Christoph Jungfleisch.

It said the agreement provided “a framework for collaboration on adaptation and resilience finance, climate-risk assessment and the use of data to strengthen agricultural lending.”

The statement added that the partnership would enable the organisations to explore the development of “financial mechanisms that can help smallholder farmers adapt to climate-related risks.”

It said the collaboration would also improve NADF’s capacity to “assess and manage climate risks across its agricultural finance portfolio.”

According to the statement, the areas of collaboration would include climate-risk analytics, data infrastructure, development of operational frameworks, capacity building and pilot projects.

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It stated that YAPU was expected to provide “technical expertise and digital tools,” while NADF would facilitate relevant operational engagement and participate in agreed pilot initiatives.

The statement said the partnership was also expected to support the development of “new or improved financial products for smallholder farmers.”

It added that the products would particularly focus on addressing “the growing risks posed by climate change to agricultural production.”

The NADF said the collaboration would therefore combine technical expertise, climate-risk data and agricultural financing to strengthen the ability of smallholder farmers to cope with climate-related challenges.

The partnership is expected to deepen the use of climate-risk assessment and data in agricultural lending while supporting the development of financing mechanisms tailored to the changing risks facing farmers.

The statement noted that the collaboration would also provide room for pilot projects and capacity building, which could help strengthen NADF’s approach to managing climate risks within its agricultural finance portfolio.