UNCDF and Bayer Foundation deploy first $1 million in Food Systems innovation Loans

The UNCDF and Bayer Foundation have made their first investments under the Food Systems Innovation Finance Facility, providing $500,000 each to Omia Agribusiness in Uganda and SokoFresh in Kenya, amid a record 23.1% drop in official development assistance in 2025.

The United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) and Bayer Foundation have announced the inaugural investments under their Food Systems Innovation Finance Facility (FSIFF), according to official disclosures. UNCDF is providing $500,000 in local currency loans to Omia Agribusiness Development Group Limited in Uganda and a separate $500,000 local currency loan to SokoFresh in Kenya, marking the facility’s transition from pipeline development to active capital deployment.

This development matters because official development assistance fell by 23.1% in 2025, the largest annual decline on record, returning to 2015 levels, according to OECD data. As concessional resources contract, the FSIFF addresses a critical gap by deploying catalytic capital to food system enterprises in underserved and frontier markets across Africa, Asia Pacific, and Latin America that typically face restrictive or costly traditional financing. Industries impacted include agribusiness, cold chain logistics, and development finance.

Stakeholders include smallholder farmers, food security policymakers, and impact investors seeking to crowd private capital into viable but underfunded enterprises.

For investors, the FSIFF model demonstrates how tailored concessional instruments can de-risk early-stage agribusiness lending, potentially creating a replicable blueprint for blended finance in food systems.

The UNCDF is the UN’s capital development agency focused on public and private finance for least developed countries.

Bayer Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Bayer AG, supporting health and nutrition access initiatives.