There continues to be a “missing middle” in the financial markets between microfinance and commercial banks; this gap is particularly pronounced in the agricultural sector due to the challenging economics of lending to agricultural SMEs in developing markets. The CSAF financial benchmarking study, funded by USAID and executed by Dalberg, worked with unique data provided by nine CSAF members to quantify the economics of agricultural SME lending. The database brought together information on nearly 3,600 individual loans, including transaction revenues, write-offs, operating costs, and impact-adjusted costs of funds, allowing analysis of the conditions for profitability and unprofitability of lending in this market. Explore the learning insights in the Executive Summary and full report below.
