AGRI3 Fund Welcomes SDG Impact Finance Initiative as New Capital Partner
Published: July 16, 2026
The AGRI3 Fund is pleased to announce a USD 2.4 million commitment from the SDG Impact Finance Initiative (SIFI), strengthening the Fund’s ability to mobilise private capital for sustainable agriculture, forest protection and climate resilience across emerging markets and developing countries.
SIFI’s commitment follows a rigorous evaluation process under its Investment Window, which assesses investments based on their catalytic potential, additionality, ability to mobilise private capital, impact, scalability and contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals.
SIFI becomes AGRI3’s second international partner, joining the Global Environment Facility (GEF), through Conservation International, in supporting AGRI3’s approach to mobilising private capital for nature-positive outcomes.
Supporting sustainable agriculture and forest protection
The AGRI3 Fund addresses a critical development finance challenge: how to mobilise private capital at scale to transform agricultural value chains while reducing deforestation.
Through blended finance structures, AGRI3 helps reduce the risks associated with lending in emerging markets and enables local Partner Financial Institutions to extend finance to smallholder farmers, cooperatives and sustainable agribusinesses.
SIFI’s commitment provides an important layer of catalytic capital within this structure. By strengthening the Fund’s capital base and credit profile, the investment can help attract additional financing and increase the volume of capital reaching farmers, businesses and communities across Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals
AGRI3’s investment approach contributes directly to several interconnected Sustainable Development Goals.
SDG 2 – Zero Hunger: AGRI3 supports access to finance, sustainable agricultural inputs and climate-resilient technologies for smallholder farmers and agribusinesses, helping strengthen food systems and agricultural productivity.
SDG 13 – Climate Action: By linking finance to sustainable agricultural practices and forest protection, AGRI3 supports both climate mitigation and adaptation while helping farming communities become more resilient to climate change.
SDG 15 – Life on Land: AGRI3 incentivises sustainable land use and the protection of forests and natural ecosystems, helping reduce deforestation, restore degraded landscapes and protect biodiversity.
BlueMark Platinum rating
As part of its participation in SIFI’s Investment Window, AGRI3 underwent an independent BlueMark Fund Assessment and received a Platinum rating — the highest classification awarded by BlueMark.
The rating recognises AGRI3’s leading practices across strategy and objectives, stakeholder engagement, data and evidence, and performance management. AGRI3 has also qualified for inclusion on the BlueMark Fund ID Leaderboard.
The assessment provides independent validation of AGRI3’s approach to impact measurement and management and reinforces the Fund’s commitment to deploying capital responsibly and effectively.
“We are delighted to welcome SIFI as a capital partner in the AGRI3 Fund. SIFI’s commitment is a strong signal of confidence in our blended finance model and in the transformative potential of sustainable agriculture to address climate change and protect nature. Together, we can unlock the capital flows needed to build a more equitable and resilient food system.”
Ineke Keers, Managing Director, AGRI3 Fund
About AGRI3 Fund
The AGRI3 Fund was created by UNEP and Rabobank, together with partners IDH and FMO, to support the transition towards sustainable agriculture. Supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands and the Global Environment Facility through Conservation International, AGRI3 mobilises public and private capital to finance sustainable agriculture and land-use projects.
The Fund provides credit enhancement and technical assistance to projects that prevent deforestation, stimulate reforestation, strengthen sustainable value chains, reduce carbon emissions and improve rural livelihoods.
About SIFI
The SDG Impact Finance Initiative (SIFI) is an international platform using blended finance solutions to mobilise private investment for the Sustainable Development Goals in emerging markets and developing economies. Through catalytic capital, innovation support and ecosystem building, SIFI aims to enable impact capital to flow at scale, with confidence and integrity.