Pan-Africa Early-stage equity Climate-smart agricultural value chains, Food Security and Nutrition, Livelihoods

Catalyst Fund

FASA provides an investment of $5M in junior equity, alongside other active impact investors in the continent, including IFC and Trafigura. The fund had received initial support and commitments from investors such as FSD Africa (FSDA). By investing in Catalyst Fund, FASA contributes to consolidating and strengthening the fund’s junior tranche, increasing its capacity to attract additional investors and reach its target final close of USD 40 million.

Through this investment, FASA helps de-risk early-stage venture activity in Africa’s agri-food sector and catalyze private capital toward an innovative investment approach that addresses agricultural productivity, resilience, and inclusion.

Besides, FASA also provides a technical assistance budget to address targeted needs of the fund manager and of portfolio agri-SMEs.

FASA’s involvement further enhances the fund’s capacity to reach agri-SMEs, strengthen impact measurement, and connect with ecosystem partners across I&P’s network.

• A VC fund highly exposed to agricultural sector with strong potential to improve farmers livelihoods and food security & nutrition at scale, while leveraging its tech-enabled model to expand access to climate-smart agricultural solutions across Africa

• A demonstration of blended finance at work, showing how public capital can mobilize private capital

• A highly additional investment strategy and a strong track record supporting early-stage businesses growth and impact with capital and a valued venture building approach

Catalyst aims to create or maintain 3,000 direct jobs and improve the climate resilience of 200,000 farmers as direct suppliers or users of agri-SME inputs and services. For example, a Ugandan seed company supplies drought-resistant maize, sorghum, sunflower and soybean seeds to 36,540 farmers through a mobile savings platform, addressing seed-access constraints that leave over 91% of Ugandan farmers reliant on local or home-saved seed.

Food security and nutrition

More than half of Catalyst’s agri-SMEs are expected to directly contribute to food security and nutrition in Africa by increasing food and nutritious crop supply and reducing food loss and waste. In 2025, the portfolio generated 35,957 t of food sales, including 13,777 t of nutritious crops. Companies span the value chain, from input and seed distribution and post-harvest storage to cold-chain solutions and marketplace linkages. An AgTech company based in Tanzania, for example, provides soil analytics and farm-management software to over 150,000 farmers, more than half the Fund’s total, helping increase yields and food volumes entering domestic markets.

Climate-smart agricultural solutions

Catalyst is expected to significantly exceed FASA’s 20% target for this theme, with over 80% of its agri-SMEs already offering climate-smart agricultural solutions. The Fund also aims to restore or sustainably manage 350,000 hectares through soil and crop management solutions. A crop insurance in Mali, for example, provides satellite-indexed drought and flood insurance via mobile money to over 8,000 farmers across five countries, helping them recover from extreme weather while improving access to credit