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As climate change accelerates, financial institutions must confront its far-reaching implications, especially in agriculture, one of the world’s most climate-exposed sectors. This course equips participants with the knowledge and tools needed to adapt agricultural finance to a rapidly changing climate reality. Drawing on new research and emerging global examples, it offers an overview of financial products, services, and partnerships that can help farmers build resilience to climate shocks, adjust their livelihoods, and take advantage of innovative green technologies. Participants will also explore how proactively addressing climate needs in agriculture can strengthen portfolios and operations, support business growth, and open doors to new markets.
Designed for managers from microfinance institutions and commercial banks working with agricultural value chains, smallholder farmers, and rural clients, the course blends evidence with practice. Each lesson begins by synthesizing the latest insights on the challenges and opportunities facing agricultural finance across three core areas: climate resilience, climate adaptation, and the green transition. Participants will be provided with real-world examples of emerging models, products, services, and partnerships that respond to these needs. Finally, by integrating these insights with their own professional experience, participants will collaborate to co-create practical, market-relevant solutions they can bring back to their institutions.
AgTechs have been proliferating throughout emerging markets focusing on smallholder farmers and new technologies that increase yields and make agricultural production more resilient to climate risks. AgTechs have limited balance sheets and assets to raise finance on their own yet provide great opportunities for banks and MFIs to leverage their digital platforms to expand lending focusing on smallholder farmers.
There are several models to link banks and MFIs with AgTechs and leverage each other’s capabilities to expand financing to smallholder farmers. Practical experiences so far have uncovered certain challenges along with opportunities. Such models will be explored and ways to address the challenges through practical examples and case studies.
An important aspect is promoting through AgTechs investments that increase productivity and promote resilience in agricultural production to climatic risks. Such investments create new opportunities for banks and MFIs as well as improve the risk profile of their smallholder clients. There are lessons learnt from various cases on the design and marketing of financial products, identifying the right climate resilient technologies, and bridging the knowledge gap of what is needed and what can be financed.
Despite decades of progress, millions of low-income and rural households remain excluded from formal financial services due to high transaction costs, rigid methodologies, and products misaligned with their realities. This course examines how digital financial services and hybrid methodologies can close that gap—without sacrificing portfolio quality or institutional sustainability.
Drawing on more than 30 years of field experience across Latin America, Africa, and Asia, the course is especially relevant for MFIs, cooperatives, banks, fintechs, and development programs serving rural, agricultural, and vulnerable segments. Participants will analyze how traditional microfinance models must evolve by integrating digital channels, individual product design, financial education, payments and flexible risk management approaches.
The course combines real-world cases, practitioner reflections, and applied frameworks covering digital savings, payments, credit, microinsurance, correspondent agents, and mobile-based service delivery. Participants will work through practical decision points faced by institutions today: how to reduce transaction costs, diversify risk, improve client experience, and compete or collaborate with fintechs in rapidly changing markets.