CFC Consultative Committee Recommends 18 High-Impact Investments Across Global Commodity Value Chains
Amsterdam – The Common Fund for Commodities (CFC) has concluded its 78th Meeting of the Consultative Committee (CC), held from 29 June to 2 July 2026 in Amsterdam, where members reviewed investment proposals under the 28th Call for Proposals and recommended 18 high-impact investment projects for consideration by the Executive Board.
The recommendations reinforce the CFC's commitment to advancing sustainable, inclusive and resilient commodity value chains across developing countries and span Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East, covering commodities including cocoa, coffee, tea, cashew, cotton, honey, horticulture, livestock, timber, dried tropical fruits, legumes, pulses and seeds.
The recommendations come in response to unprecedented demand for CFC financing. Under the 28th Call for Proposals, the Fund received a record 640 applications—more than double the last proposals submitted under the previous Call. Following a rigorous technical appraisal process, 56 proposals were reviewed by the Project Appraisal Committee, with 18 projects advancing to the Consultative Committee for detailed evaluation.
Opening the meeting, Managing Director Amb. Sheikh Mohammed Belal highlighted the increasing need for catalytic finance to support agricultural SMEs and producer organizations.
"The challenge before us is no longer relevance. The challenge is capacity. The remarkable increase in demand demonstrates that entrepreneurs, cooperatives and producer organizations continue to believe that the CFC understands their realities and is willing to invest where others often cannot."
The recommended projects reflect the diversity of today's commodity economy and the breadth of the CFC's investment mandate. Together, they support sustainable production, value addition, climate resilience, food security and inclusive economic growth across commodity-dependent developing countries.
The projects recommended at CC78 include:
- Coffee & Cocoa Value Chains: Strengthening sustainable coffee and cocoa value chains across Africa, Latin America and the Middle East through expanded market access, value addition, climate resilience and innovative approaches that enhance smallholder participation and livelihoods.
- Climate-Smart Agriculture & Regenerative Production: Scaling regenerative cotton, drought-tolerant seeds and climate-smart agricultural systems across Asia and Africa, while advancing carbon finance initiatives that strengthen resilience and create additional income opportunities for producers.
- Agri-Food Processing & Rural Enterprises: Expanding local processing and sustainable value addition in West, East and Central Africa across cashew, dried tropical fruits, honey, livestock, macadamia and forestry value chains, creating rural employment and strengthening local economies.
- Agricultural Finance & Inclusive SMEs: Supporting agricultural SMEs and commodity enterprises across Africa, Asia and the Middle East through innovative financing that improves market access, strengthens value chains and promotes financial inclusion.
- Humanizing Value Chains & Digital Innovation: Advancing the CFC's Humanizing Value Chains initiative through a proof-of-concept in Sri Lanka and the Netherlands, while promoting digital traceability, transparency and fairer value distribution across global commodity supply chains.
- Innovation, Recovery & Resilient Livelihoods: Supporting innovative development approaches, including outcomes-based financing to restore agricultural livelihoods in conflict-affected Syria, while strengthening resilient commodity systems across developing countries.
During the meeting, members also reviewed progress across the CFC's growing investment portfolio. The Fund currently manages 44 active loan and equity investments and one grant project, representing total commitments of approximately USD 52.9 million. The Committee further noted that the project pipeline now comprises 45 approved projects across 36 countries, valued at approximately USD 39 million, reflecting continued growth in future investment opportunities.
The Committee also welcomed continued progress in implementing the CFC Strategic Framework 2025–2035 and reviewed advances in the Humanizing Value Chains (HVC) initiative, which seeks to ensure that commodity value chains generate fairer opportunities and more equitable value distribution for producers, workers, cooperatives and SMEs. Members were updated on the first Humanizing Value Chains proof-of-concept project in the tea sector and encouraged to support partnerships that will expand the initiative across additional commodities.
Members also received an update on the Agricultural Commodity Transformation (ACT) Fund, established by the CFC to mobilize private capital for agricultural SMEs. Following its successful first close of USD 40 million, the Fund has entered its investment phase, having completed its first investment, with additional transactions progressing through due diligence while fundraising continues toward a target fund size of USD 75 million.
Reflecting on the broader vision guiding the Fund's work, Managing Director Amb. Sheikh Mohammed Belal concluded:
"Let us continue to build commodity value chains that are not only more productive, resilient and sustainable, but also more equitable and more human."
The recommendations of the Consultative Committee will now be submitted to the Executive Board for consideration in accordance with the CFC's investment approval process.