Great performance for the 1st e-learning session of the Agricultural and Rural Finance (FAR) programme

On 4th December, the training in agricultural and rural finance (FAR) organised by ADA and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), supported by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of Luxembourg (MAEE), through the CABFIN project which aims to improve capacity building in rural finance, ended. Initially planned in Luxembourg, the training had to be adapted to the health crisis. The new formula thus proposed an introductory e-learning session, with courses and webinars over 4 weeks.

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132 candidates, 64 selected, 19 French-speaking African countries represented

The programme was targeted at managers in financial institutions and programme officers in public agencies who develop strategies for designing and delivering products that help finance agricultural activities.
Out of 132 candidates who applied for the training, 64 participants from 19 French-speaking African countries were finally selected by ADA, MAEE and FAO to take part in the 4-week introductory session from 9 November to 4 December 2020.

A rich programme: 5 courses, 4 webinars, 10 expert speakers

For 4 weeks, the 64 participants had access to 5 introductory online courses that they could follow at their own pace:

Part 1: "Financial products and markets":
- market opportunities and product design
- digital financial services for agricultural financing
- financing mechanisms in agricultural value chains

Part 2: "Risk management strategies" :
- risk management in agricultural finance
- agricultural insurance

The courses also included online discussion forums with other participants and experts, as well as knowledge tests.

In addition, 4 webinars took place at the rate of one webinar per week, focusing on the current challenges of agricultural finance:
- Webinar 1: "Lessons learned from the Covid-19 pandemic", Massimo Pera (FAO)
- Webinar 2: "Agroforestry Financing and Management", Patrick Losch (ADA) & Kaspar Wansleben (FCCF)
- Webinar 3: "The impact of climate change", Maylina St Louis and Nadine Valat (FAO)
- Webinar 4: "Agricultural refinancing opportunities", Soulémane Djobo (ADA), Matthew Genazzini (ADA), Philippe Guichandut (Grameen Crédit Agricole Foundation). This is an opportunity to introduce participants to the Smallholder Safety Net Upscaling Programme (SSNUP) launched last October, which aims to support smallholder farmers around the world, particularly in Africa.

A total of 10 experts from the agricultural and rural sector took part in the training to present activities and concrete results on given themes, thus making it possible to identify and analyse experiences in order to draw lessons with regard to best practices.

Active participation

The 64 participants showed a real interest in training in agricultural and rural finance, with each participant spending an average of 5 hours per week (between courses and webinars).
In addition, nearly 400 messages were exchanged on 5 forums between the participants themselves or with the speakers.