Council on Smallholder Agricultural Finance (CSAF)

What Council on Smallholder Agricultural Finance (CSAF) does

The Council on Smallholder Agricultural Finance (CSAF) is a US-based nonprofit membership network of 18 agricultural lenders and affiliates, founded in 2012 and institutionally hosted by GDI Solutions, a 501(c)(3) organization controlled by Global Development Incubator. CSAF convenes lending practitioners to share learning, develop industry standards — including Responsible Lending Principles (2015, updated 2020) and ESG Principles — and engage stakeholders to address barriers to market growth in agricultural SME finance, with active regional chapters in Central America, East Africa, and South America and future chapters planned for West Africa and Asia.

CSAF's core product surface consists of three asset classes: (1) the CSAF Open Data Portal, an interactive data platform exposing aggregated member lending data since 2013; (2) free downloadable risk management tools for agricultural SMEs — the Coffee Monitoring Tool and Other Products Monitoring Tool, spreadsheet-based applications that track purchases, sales, financing, and hedging exposure, available in English, Spanish, and French; and (3) annual State of the Sector reports (published since 2015) tracking member lending volumes, value chains, and market trends. Underlying data assets include cumulative member disbursements of $8.6B (2013–2025) across 1,809 agricultural SMEs in 52+ countries supporting 7.4M smallholder farmers, with 2025 member lending alone reaching $944M to 585 businesses.

CSAF does not generate commercial revenue from products or services; its operating model is funded by membership contributions from its 18 members and affiliates and by grants from a diversified set of field-building partners (IKEA Foundation, Norad, UK International Development, KOICA, IDH Farmfit Fund, Ceniarth, Coffee Circle, and others). Pricing for all tools and publications is free, and the 6-person core team (Director Andrea Zinn, Data & Learning Manager Eda Dokle, Junior Data Associate Nimi Akinyi, Senior Advisor Brian Milder) is supported by member-elected governance via a Global Steering Committee and working groups on impact, responsible lending, ESG, and loan workouts.

Name

Council on Smallholder Agricultural Finance (CSAF)

Legal name

Council on Smallholder Agricultural Finance

Website

https://csaf.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Council on Smallholder Agricultural Finance (CSAF) is a 2012-founded US nonprofit membership network of 18 agricultural lenders that convenes practitioners, publishes industry standards (Responsible Lending and ESG Principles), and provides free risk management tools and an Open Data Portal for agricultural SMEs serving smallholder farmers across 52+ countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agricultural Finance Association

NAICS

Business Associations (813910), Business, Professional, Labor, Political, and Similar Organizations (8139)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Miscellaneous Business Credit Institution (6159)

akta.pro primary industry

SBA/Government-Backed & Development Finance Loans (FSAKAGAI)

Keywords

• Agricultural finance network
• Lender member association
• Agricultural SME lending
• Responsible lending standards
• Smallholder finance data

Headquarters

HQ city

Not disclosed

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership contributions: CSAF is funded through membership contributions from its 18 members and affiliates. The organization is hosted by GDI Solutions as its institutional host.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

CSAF is a non-profit membership network of 18 agricultural lenders that convenes practitioners to share learning, develop industry standards (Responsible Lending Principles and ESG Principles), aggregate and publish lending data on agricultural SMEs serving smallholder farmers, and provide free risk management tools. The organization facilitates market growth in the 'missing middle' financing segment through working groups, regional chapters, and field-building partnerships with donors such as the IKEA Foundation, Norad, and UK International Development.

Product overview

CSAF is a network organization of 18 agricultural lenders rather than a software product company. Its offerings consist of downloadable risk management tools (Coffee Monitoring Tool and Other Products Monitoring Tool available in English, Spanish, and French), an Open Data Portal for exploring member lending data, and annual State of the Sector publications. The network also publishes industry standards including Responsible Lending Principles and ESG Principles that guide member lending practices.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Coffee Monitoring Tool A downloadable spreadsheet-based tool for agricultural SMEs that process and trade coffee. It enables users to monitor purchases, sales, financing, and hedging, and calculates price risk exposure. Available free of charge in English, Spanish, and French, with user manuals and video tutorials.
• Other Products Monitoring Tool A downloadable spreadsheet-based tool for agricultural SMEs processing and trading commodities such as cacao, nuts, fruits, honey, or other price-volatile crops. Also usable by coffee organizations managing a second agricultural product. Monitors purchases, sales, financing, and calculates price risk exposure. Available free of charge in English, Spanish, and French.
• CSAF Open Data Portal An interactive data portal enabling users to explore aggregated member lending data to agricultural SMEs and producer organizations since 2013. Features dashboards on disbursement values, value chain types, and loan sizes.
• State of the Sector Reports Annual reports sharing market insights, quantitative and qualitative data from CSAF member institutions, and analysis of trends in lending activity, risks, and opportunities in the agricultural SME finance sector. Available annually from 2015 onward.
• Responsible Lending Principles A set of nine guiding principles that CSAF members commit to as socially responsible lenders, covering topics from inclusive finance promotion to fair treatment and coordination. Originally written in 2015 and updated in 2020.
• ESG Principles Jointly developed environmental, social, and governance lending principles that guide member due diligence processes and determine whether borrowers have socially and environmentally responsible practices.

Quantifiable outcome

• $8.6B cumulative lending to 1,809 businesses supporting 7.4M smallholder farmers (2013-2025)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• GDI Solutions (Global Development Incubator)coreOthersGDI Solutions is the institutional host for CSAF. As a 501(c)(3) organization controlled by GDI, it facilitates the flow of capital to high-impact social ventures with particular focus on supporting local organizations. GDI is described as a leading incubator for transformational social impact ventures.
• Aceli AfricacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerA market incentive facility initiated by CSAF and now operated independently. Aims to unlock finance for inclusive agriculture by compensating lenders for positive social and environmental impact. CSAF incubated the initiative in partnership with GDI since 2018, and Aceli Africa launched in September 2020. The model 'prices into the market' to align lending economics with impact objectives of increasing capital flows to inclusive agricultural SMEs.
• International Growth Centre (IGC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerResearch partnership to distill findings from CSAF member data, case studies, and learning. CSAF and IGC are mapping collective data and learning onto literature in agricultural SME finance and development, focusing on capital additionality, enterprise growth, and impact.
• IRIS Metrics (Global Impact Investing Network)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCSAF members report on common impact metrics aligned with IRIS metrics for agriculture, enabling standardized impact measurement across the network.
• ISF AdvisorscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative partner on agricultural finance research including State of the Sector reports and evidence reviews for agri-SME finance.
• Value for WomencoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner for gender lens investing initiatives. Provided customized technical assistance to CSAF members (Alterfin, Cordaid Investment Management, Incofin) to advance gender equity goals. Joint publication: 'Closing the Gender Gap in Agricultural Investments'.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Oikocredit: Oikocredit is a global cooperative and CSAF member that lends to agricultural SMEs and financial inclusion organizations across Latin America, Africa and Asia. It is one of the largest CSAF members by disbursement and exemplifies the institutional lender cohort CSAF convenes.
• Triodos Investment Management: Triodos Investment Management is a CSAF member that manages inclusive finance and emerging-markets debt funds, including agricultural SME exposure. It is directly comparable to other CSAF members such as Incofin and responsAbility.
• Root Capital: Root Capital is both a CSAF member and the most direct peer: a nonprofit agricultural lender that finances SMEs in coffee, cocoa and other smallholder value chains. The two organizations share the same target borrower segment, use similar responsible-lending principles and have overlapping leadership (Brian Milder was Root Capital's Chief Innovation Officer before co-founding CSAF).
• Incofin Investment Management: Incofin is a Belgian impact investment manager and CSAF member that runs the Fairtrade Access Fund and other agri-SME debt vehicles. It is directly comparable to CSAF member Root Capital and to the broader cohort CSAF represents.
• responsAbility Investments: responsAbility is a Swiss impact asset manager and CSAF member that finances agricultural SMEs and financial institutions across emerging markets. It competes directly with Oikocredit and Root Capital for the same agri-SME lending opportunities.
• Shared Interest: Shared Interest is a CSAF member that provides guarantees and loans to financial intermediaries serving low-income communities in Southern Africa, with material agricultural SME exposure. It is part of the same member cohort and shares the responsible-lending mandate.

Emerging players

• ISF Advisors: ISF Advisors is a strategic research and advisory partner to CSAF on State of the Sector reports and agri-SME finance evidence. It addresses an overlapping audience of agricultural SME lenders, donors and policymakers but does not lend directly.
• Aceli Africa: Aceli Africa was incubated by CSAF starting in 2018 and spun out as an independent market-incentive facility in 2020. It serves the same agricultural SME lender cohort in East Africa, providing financial incentives that complement CSAF's convening and standards role.

Broad incumbents

• Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN): GIIN is the global industry body for impact investing and the steward of the IRIS+ impact metrics that CSAF members align to. It is a broader incumbent convening platform that overlaps with CSAF on agricultural SME finance but spans the full impact-investing universe.
• IDH Farmfit Fund: IDH Farmfit Fund is both a CSAF field-building partner and a direct agricultural SME investor. It operates at scale across value chains and complements CSAF's convening role with capital deployment to inclusive businesses.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/council-on-smallholder-ag-finance

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Council on Smallholder Agricultural Finance (CSAF)