• Objective of the fund: The objective of the Xamahar – Assam Agrifin is to support, through initial funding, testing and/or scaling-up of tested innovations by financial service providers (banks, MFIs, value chain financiers, insurance companies, payments service providers) that can increase access to financial services (savings, payments, insurance and credit) among agriculture value chains in Assam.


• The project will competitively select 8-12 subprojects to partially cover the cost of developing, testing and/or scaling-up innovations in products or process that improve access to finance for agriculture value chains in Assam


• The subprojects will be implemented or scaled up in one or more of the 23 priority districts of APART


• Xamahar aims to directly benefit 125,000 producers over the fund life including 30% women beneficiaries

Assam Agriculture Fund Background

The Assam AgriFinXamahar (“Xamahar”) is a Challenge Agriculture Fund or a competitive funding mechanism for supporting innovative approaches, especially by the private sector, to deliver financial services at scale for farmers in key agriculture value chains in Assam. It is funded by the World Bank and is being implemented by the Assam Rural Infrastructure and Agricultural Services (ARIAS), under the Assam Agribusiness and Rural Transformation Project (APART).

Initiated as the Assam Challenge Fund for Innovative Finance in Agriculture (ACFIFA), it has been named ‘Assam AgriFin Xamahar,’. The Challenge Fund provides a comprehensive look at the methods, tools, and approaches used by industry leaders in all parts of the nation to improve Assam Value Chain Finance.The underlining aim of the agriculture fund is to facilitate access to finance as well as responsible use of the financial services provided. It envisages acting as a catalyst, which will enable high-impact investment in agriculture in Assam, while encouraging innovation that meet the requirements of all stake holders in agriculture value chains.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of the Assam AgriFin Xamahar is to support testing and/or scaling-up of tested innovations by financial service providers (banks, MFIs, value chain financiers, insurance companies, payments service providers) that can increase access to financial services (savings, payments, insurance and credit) among agriculture value chains in Assam.

Strengthening Assam Agriculture Finance

The Fund will support subprojects of financial services innovations in agriculture from business-oriented organizations and Assam Value Chain Finance, through initial risk capital in the form of grants for de-risking them and making them viable. The subproject should play a catalytic role and it is expected that the promoting organizations will scale up the innovations commercially as a part of their business model. This will lead to improved access to financial services in agriculture for a large number of beneficiaries across Assam. The applicant organizations, therefore, must see the innovations as long-term business opportunity and not just for implementing a limited time sub-project.