After years of working closely with smallholder farmers and rural entrepreneurs in Nepal, Heifer International identified limited access to affordable capital as a key barrier to agricultural and business growth. In response, Heifer launched the Access to Finance (A2F) Initiative, a groundbreaking effort to empower farmer-owned agribusinesses (FOABs) and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), particularly women and youth by improving financial access and strengthening rural economies.

Through strategic partnerships with 21 Banks and Financial Institutions (BFIs) and 250 Social Entrepreneur Women’s Cooperatives (SEWCs) across 40 districts in 6 provinces, the A2F initiative has mobilized over $76 million USD in concessional loans, benefiting more than 20,000 smallholder farmers.
The initiative offers a bundled approach including financial literacy, loan management, entrepreneurship training, and technical capacity-building to ensure sustainable use of credit. Farmers are supported in co-financing assets like transport vehicles, market infrastructure, and value-adding technologies, helping them scale operations, improve market access, and reduce dependency on high-interest informal lenders.

Key achievements include:

1. $18.9 million USD in loans disbursed to 11,378 farmers (2018–2024)
2.1.6x growth in loan portfolios and cooperative profits
3.Enhxanced women’s leadership and participation in agriculture value chains
4. Increased formal registration of rural agribusinesses
5. Expansion of agriculture and livestock insurance coverage
6. Creation of local jobs and rise in household incomes

Bybridging the gap between rural entrepreneurs and formal financial institutions, Heifer’s Access to Finance Initiative is not just providing loans, it’s laying the foundation for resilient, self-reliant rural communities and a thriving agricultural economy in Nepal.