77th Consultative Committee Recommends 12 High-Impact Investments to Strengthen Inclusive Commodity Value Chains

The 77th Consultative Committee (CC) of the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC), convened from 2 to 5 February 2026 by teleconference, concluded with recommendations for financing twelve high-impact projects designed to strengthen inclusive and climate-resilient commodity value chains in developing countries. The meeting was chaired by Mr. Hocine Irekti, Chairperson of the Consultative Committee. 

Selected from 283 applications under the 27th Call for Proposals, the recommended portfolio represents approximately USD 9.7 million in proposed CFC financing, unlocking a total project value of USD 261 million approximately. The projects span nutritious food systems, cocoa, coffee, rice, groundnuts, shea, avocado, and agricultural finance. They reflect an integrated approach across commodity value chains from production and aggregation to processing and export.

The recommendations reflect sustained demand for catalytic and blended finance solutions that support smallholder farmers, cooperatives and rural SMEs. 

The projects recommended at CC77 include:

• Nutritious Food Systems & Agricultural Finance: Expansion of financing for nutrition-focused SMEs in Sub-Saharan Africa; scaling of climate-smart rural MSME lending in Sri Lanka; and growth capital for early-stage agri-food and inclusive finance enterprises in India.
• Digital & Local Food Systems: Working capital support for digitally enabled commodity platforms and food processors in Nigeria, Tanzania, Kenya, and Zimbabwe to strengthen structured market access and smallholder sourcing.
• Coffee Value Chains: Support for smallholder coffee cooperatives and women-led coffee enterprises in Uganda and Nicaragua to enhance export capacity, quality standards, and income stability.
• Cocoa Value Chains: Strengthening certified cocoa aggregation and cooperative pre-financing in Côte d’Ivoire through targeted technical assistance financed by downstream cocoa sourcing brands and implemented by the CFC based on gaps identified during due diligence.
• Rice & Staple Crop Systems: Climate-resilient financing to strengthen rice value chains in Tanzania and Kenya, improving productivity, cost efficiency, and environmental sustainability.
• Tree Crops & Women-Led Value Chains: Expansion of sustainable avocado exports from smallholders in Peru; and scaling of women-led shea sourcing networks in West Africa to enhance income generation and climate resilience.

A significant share of the recommended projects is located in Africa, reflecting the Fund’s continued focus on regions where climate vulnerability, commodity dependence, and financing gaps remain most acute. Several initiatives combine financial support with structured technical assistance to strengthen governance, traceability, sustainability standards, and long-term institutional capacity. Overall, eight of the twelve projects are based in Africa, underscoring the central role of the continent in the CFC’s operational priorities.

In his opening remarks, Ambassador Sheikh Mohammed Belal, Managing Director of the CFC, reaffirmed the Fund’s commitment to fostering inclusive development and to “humanizing value chains” by ensuring that smallholder farmers and rural enterprises receive fair and sustainable access to finance, markets and resilience-building opportunities. The Managing Director also drew attention to the UK FCDO–CFC Trust Fund (GBP 5.4 million), designed to provide early-stage financing for agri-SMEs inclusive growth in Sub-Saharan Africa, with three of the projects under review supported through this partnership. These initiatives combine financing with customized technical assistance that is designed and managed by CFC to support the company growth.

The Consultative Committee was also briefed on other institutional developments at the CFC, including progress in the activation of the Agricultural Commodities Transformation (ACT) Fund. The ACT Fund Director reported that the Fund had reached its first close at USD 40 million, formally announced on 19 November, including a USD 20 million commitment from Invest International. In December, the Fund received its inaugural contribution of EUR 500,000 to its Technical Assistance Facility from the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Action, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMUKN) marking the operational launch of the facility alongside the Fund. Following the first close, the ACT Fund has begun activating its investment pipeline, with initial due diligence approvals underway and the first loan deployment expected in the first quarter of the year. The Fund will continue parallel efforts in portfolio development and fundraising toward its final target size.

The recommendations of the Consultative Committee will now be submitted to the CFC Executive Board for consideration and approval. The next Consultative Committee meeting will take place in Amsterdam from 29 June to 2 July 2026.