The Global Donor Platform for Rural Development’s Thematic Working Group on Sustainable/Blended Finance for Food Systems, in partnership with the Agri-SME Learning Collective (ASLC), is pleased to share the key findings from phase one pilot testing of the Catalytic Capital Framework.
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Catalytic capital—investment that accepts higher risk or lower returns to achieve impact—is both scarce and essential. It helps fill financing gaps in underserved markets, especially where commercial capital is limited by risk or market failure. In agri-SMEs—vital to food systems, rural jobs, and climate resilience—catalytic capital can unlock financing for inclusive, sustainable development.
To improve its effectiveness, the Agri-SME Learning Collective developed a Catalytic Capital Framework to assess additionality, impact, and context—the “north star” for impact measurement in this space. Piloted with GDPRD’s Thematic Working Group on Sustainable/Blended Finance, the framework aims to generate useful, decision-ready data without being overly burdensome.
From December 2024 to April 2025, five donors (Global Affairs Canada (GAC), Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad), Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), U.K. Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID)) tested the framework across 13 agri-SME initiatives. The pilot confirmed strong momentum among donors and practitioners for benchmarkable data and consistent practices. Future phases will focus on refinement and expanded testing, with a longer-term goal (2028–2029) of establishing industry-wide benchmarks to guide policy and investment strategy.
