Banks, microfinance institutions and cooperatives are under pressure from governments and development partners to extend credit to farmers, but agricultural portfolios have a reputation for high arrears. The reasons are well understood: income arrives once or twice a year, yields depend on rainfall and pests, and prices swing between harvest and lean season. Lenders who plan products around these realities, rather than copying urban business loans, achieve far better results.

The programme starts with the structure of agricultural value chains and the financing gaps within them. Participants then learn appraisal techniques for crop and livestock enterprises, including budgets, cash-flow projections and break-even analysis. Product design follows, covering loan sizing, grace periods, disbursement in stages and the role of guarantees and insurance. The later sessions deal with implementation: staff capacity, credit policy, technology for field data, portfolio quality and reporting to funders.

Case files drawn from tea, dairy, maize, horticulture and livestock enterprises anchor every session. Participants practise on realistic numbers and leave with a product concept ready to be tested within their own institution.

After completing the programme, participants will be able to:

• Map an agricultural value chain and identify where finance is needed and where risk sits.
• Prepare crop, livestock and agribusiness budgets and cash-flow projections for credit appraisal.
• Design seasonal loan products with repayment schedules matched to harvest and sales.
• Structure value-chain finance using offtake contracts, warehouse receipts and anchor firms.
• Evaluate production, price, market and climate risks and choose suitable mitigants.
• Establish portfolio monitoring, early warning indicators and collection practices for agricultural loans.
• Prepare an implementation plan covering policy, staffing, technology and funding.

The programme is intended for people who finance, support or oversee lending to agriculture, such as:

• Agribusiness relationship managers in commercial banks
• Credit analysts and loan officers in microfinance institutions
• SACCO, cooperative and farmer group managers
• Agricultural development bank and fund staff
• Risk managers and portfolio managers handling farm loans
• Agricultural insurance and guarantee scheme officers
• Agribusiness owners and finance managers in processors and exporters
• Programme officers at donors and agricultural NGOs

By the close, participants hold:

• A farm budget and cash-flow template they can reuse in loan appraisal.
• A draft agricultural loan product specification with pricing logic.
• A value-chain finance map showing partners, flows and risk points.
• A risk matrix with mitigants for weather, price and side-selling risk.
• A monitoring dashboard outline with early warning indicators.
• A phased implementation plan for launching or improving an agri-lending line.

The programme is built around practical lending decisions. Methods include:

• Facilitated briefings by practitioners from agricultural finance
• Case files on tea, dairy, maize, horticulture and livestock enterprises
• Spreadsheet workshops on budgets and repayment scheduling
• Small-group product design clinics
• Feedback sessions on each participant's implementation plan

Participants who attend the sessions and finish the practical exercises are awarded a CPD-accredited Certificate of Completion by Vision Reach Global Consultancy.