Knowledge Management & Lessons Learnt

During inception phase stakeholder engagements, it became evident that the IFAD-supported farmer database is predominantly oriented toward smallholder farmers within producer groups, providing limited visibility of MSMEs particularly youth and women-led enterprises.

Although participating financial institutions are required to cap loan interest rates at 18%, MSMEs still face substantial additional costs such as processing fees, insurance premiums, legal charges, and account opening costs.

A promising client with a viable business idea (animal feed production) was declined funding because the venture was a pre-revenue startup that could not meet the fundamental requirements of a debt-financing model.

Through the Agro-MSME Support Program, MSME was supported to develop a bankable financing request for feed formulation, access KES 200,000 in green financing to reduce reliance on expensive commercial feeds.

A client who had already complied with initial financing requirements, including payment of a mandatory share deposit, later encountered inflexible collateral demands that contradicted earlier guidance.

A high-potential group enterprise with demonstrated market demand and strong banking history received significantly reduced financing due to rigid collateral requirements.