JavaScript and Cookies need to be supported in order to use the website.

To be able to use all of the website & navigator's functions, download and install one of the following browsers:

Agriculture Fast Track Fund

Agriculture Fast Track (AFT) is a an Agriculture Project Preparation Facility aimed at reducing the cost of project preparation, which project sponsors may otherwise not be willing to offset. The AFT facilitates preparation of agricultural projects in Africa, especially those aimed at agriculture infrastructure development by providing grants to enhance generation of data and information that improve the quality of project preparation and make them bankable and attractive for funding by Development Finance Institutions, including agricultural finance organizations. Through this, a pipeline of investment-ready agricultural projects can be developed, also attractive to private sector sponsors.

Support provider

US government represented by USAID (USD 12 million), the Danish Government represented by DANIDA (USD 1.8 million) and the Swedish Government represented by SIDA (USD 10 million).

Purpose of support

Scoping and project preparation

Eligible countries and regions

Grant applications are accepted from 10 countries in Africa - Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal and Tanzania. Eligible countries are those that are members of the New Alliance Cooperation Framework.

Eligibility criteria

Eligible countries are those that are members of the New Alliance Cooperation Framework. AFT supports Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the agriculture sector, government agencies preparing agriculture infrastructure projects, non-governmental and civil society organizations such as farmer organizations and agriculture Fund Managers with clients seeking last mile financing or advisory services to formulate bankable agricultural development proposals.

The grants are intended to absorb front-end development costs such as, but not limited to: feasibility studies, market research, product certification related activities, financial modeling, business plan development, environmental impact assessment.

Financial instruments

Grants

Co-financing requirements (if applicable)

Co-funding is encouraged, but not necessary. The bank could finance the study fully provided that it does not exceed the ceiling (USD 1.0 million). In event that you have secured funds from AFT and find that it falls short of your real study requirements, you may consider topping it up from other sources.

Decision-making information

Coordination Unit: Responsible for the mandate of the AFT and its daily operations.

Technical Review Committee: Ensures all proposals meet or exceed the technical, safeguard and fiduciary quality standards of the Bank. Approves grants up to USD 500,000.

Oversight Committee: Comprised of representatives from all contributing donors and responsible for general policy direction of the facility. Approves grants between USD 500,000 to USD 1,000,000.

Monitoring and reporting procedures

Activity Monitoring and Reporting
Quarterly Report for Grant Recipients
Annual Report Template Monitoring and Reporting

Information on how to...

Understand steps to access

Climate objective

Adaptation

Sectors and themes

Agriculture

Type of support provider

Multilateral

Type of recipient

Public entity at the national level, Public entity at the sub-national level, Public entity at the regional level, International organization, Non-profit or civil society organization

Fund size

USD 23.8 million

Co-financing required

Application timeframe

Announcements for the opening of Call for Proposals are usually made twice every year.

Trustee or administrator

African Development Bank (AfDB)

Contact information

https://www.afdb.org/en/topics-and-sectors/initiatives-partnerships/agriculture-fast-track-aft-fund

aft@aftfund.org

You are here

Agriculture Fast Track Fund

Sign-up for the NDC Partnership monthly newsletter and receive updates on country work, upcoming events, resources, and more.