Bangalore, Sep 24 (KNN) The U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) announced today that they are jointly sponsoring a USD 55 million credit guarantee to address the economic impact of COVID-19 by supporting loans to farmer producer organizations, and companies engaged in clean energy solutions for the agriculture sector.

This initiative will introduce and support clean technologies for smallholder farmers, particularly women that improve market linkages and increase incomes while having a positive impact on the environment.

The India Covid Response Program for Agriculture Transition is an eight-year program which will reach more than 200,000 smallholder farmers in India and is supported by direct grants from several international foundations.

“We believe that providing farmers with access to cleaner, more affordable technology can improve the livelihood and climate resilience of the community. This support will address the health and economic needs of vulnerable farmer communities severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Warren Harrity, Director, Program Support, USAID/India.

Furthermore, the financial support will be complemented with technical assistance led by the Rabo Foundation to focus on areas of business management and help in building stronger linkages to the markets. Loans to farmer producer organizations will be provided by three Indian lenders – Samunnati Financial, Maanaveeya, and Avanti Finance.

This program not only supports the famers who receive the direct support; it also benefits their local communities and environment in India.

“We are glad to be part of this mission empowering collectives for the benefit of smallholder farmers with a transition towards more sustainable livelihoods. We strongly believe that aggregation can solve multiple problems faced by smallholder farmers and this initiative can go a long way towards scaling the collectives through encouraging participation by mainstream capital providers,” remarked Manish Thakkar from Avanti Finance.