The ACT Fund announces first investment to JKCC Limited in Uganda
The Agricultural Commodity Transformation Fund, or ACT Fund, has completed its first investment, providing a USD 3 million trade finance facility to Just Know Your Coffee Cup (JKCC) General Supplies Limited (JKCC), marking a significant milestone for the blended finance initiative following its first close in November 2025.
Founded in 2017, JKCC is one of Uganda’s largest locally owned coffee exporters. The company sources mainly Robusta coffee from more than 10,000 smallholder farmers in Central and Western Uganda and works closely with COCEWEFA, a farmer association it helped establish, to support farmer training, input distribution, and sustainability certification.
The ACT Fund will provide JKCC with working capital for the purchase, processing, and export of coffee. The additional liquidity will enable the company to expand sourcing, provide advance financing to farmers, and combine this with agronomic advice and access to climate-resilient coffee seedlings.
For ACT Fund, the transaction marks an important milestone following its first close in November 2025 and provides a clear example of its investment strategy in practice: deploying structured finance into commercially strong agricultural SMEs that are closely connected to smallholder farmers and positioned to deliver measurable impact across commodity value chains. By 2028, JKCC aims to increase the number of farmers it sources from to 20,000 and expand their access to trainings and inputs that would enable the dissemination of regenerative agricultural practices among them, which is a key focus area for the ACT Fund.
A MILESTONE FOR ACT FUND
Commenting on the transaction, Michael van den Berg, Director of the ACT Fund, described the investment as an important step for the fund.
“The disbursement of ACT Fund’s first loan is a significant milestone for the Fund,” said Michael. “We are proud to make this inaugural investment with JKCC, a respected Ugandan agribusiness with deep connections to smallholder coffee farmers. This transaction reflects ACT Fund’s mission to provide growth capital to agri-SMEs that can deliver both strong commercial outcomes and meaningful impact for farming communities. It demonstrates ACT’s strategy in action: backing commercially robust agricultural SMEs that can strengthen farmer livelihoods, support regenerative practices, and build more resilient commodity value chains. With a strong pipeline in place, we expect this to be the first of several high-impact investments over the coming months.”
Julius Kalulu, Founder and CEO of JKCC, welcomed the partnership and highlighted the broader value that ACT Fund brings beyond financing.
“We are pleased to welcome ACT as a lender. In addition to the important access to capital, we believe that we and our smallholder farmer supplier base will benefit strongly from the ACT Fund’s support to strengthen regenerative farming practices.”
For the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC), which played a catalytic role in establishing the fund, the investment demonstrates how blended finance can accelerate capital flows into high-impact agricultural enterprises.
Nicolaus Cromme, Chief Operating Officer of the CFC, stated:
“CFC is delighted to see the ACT Fund move from first close to first deployment so quickly. This transaction shows how catalytic junior capital can help unlock investment into high-impact agricultural SMEs. We look forward to welcoming additional investors as the Fund advances toward final close.”
BUILDING MOMENTUM TOWARD FINAL CLOSE
The ACT Fund achieved its first closing in November 2025 at USD 40 million and is working towards a final closing of USD 75 million, scheduled for the first quarter of 2027.
The Common Fund for Commodities has provided USD 20 million of catalytic junior capital to the fund, demonstrating its confidence in the strategy and providing downside protection for other investors. Invest International joined CFC in the first close with a combined mezzanine debt investment of USD 20 million.
As a blended finance structure, the ACT Fund offers investors the option of contributing equity, mezzanine equity or debt, and senior debt. Following its first investment, ACT Fund expects to continue deploying capital to high-impact agricultural commodity companies across its target markets.
About ACT Fund
The Agricultural Commodity Transformation (ACT) Fund is a blended finance initiative active since 2025, designed to invest in agricultural SMEs that strengthen farmer livelihoods, climate resilience, and biodiversity resilience. The Fund focuses on transforming agrifood systems by combining finance and technical assistance for agri-SMEs working across agricultural value chains. Its financing tools include trade finance, capex loans, working capital, and quasi-equity, supported by capacity development in business operations and regenerative agriculture. Through this integrated approach, the ACT Fund also advances the principles of Humanizing the Value Chains (HVC) by promoting value addition at origin, strengthening smallholder participation in higher-value markets, and ensuring that more value is retained within producing communities.
About the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC)
Established in 1989, the Common Fund for Commodities (CFC) is an autonomous intergovernmental financial institution created within the framework of the United Nations, with the vision to strengthen and diversify the commodity sector in developing countries and transform it into a major contributor to poverty alleviation and sustainable economic growth. Over more than three decades, the CFC has supported approximately 480 projects across 104 countries, mobilizing and catalyzing well over USD 1 billion in investments and development interventions across agricultural and commodity value chains. Through its investments, partnerships, and policy initiatives, the CFC promotes sustainable value addition, nature-based solutions, and Humanizing the Value Chains (HVC), helping smallholders, workers, cooperatives, and SMEs capture a greater share of the value generated from global commodity markets.
Further Information
For further information about the ACT Fund or this transaction, please contact: