The USAID Rwanda Private Sector Driven Agricultural Growth (PSDAG) project increased smallholder incomes by promoting private sector investments and connecting smallholders to markets to transform the Rwandan agricultural sector. As part of the RTI-led consortium, Connexus vetted small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in targeted value chains and connected them with local financial institutions (FIs) to access finance. Connexus also conducted a needs assessment of local FIs and provided targeted training and technical assistance to select FIs to develop strategies for agricultural lending as well as adapt and develop appropriate financial products to increase access to finance for smallholders and SMEs.
Connexus provided demand-driven training on numerous topics, including agricultural value chain finance and risk management, financial analysis, and cashflow-based lending, as well as how to manage an agricultural lending unit and lending to agricultural cooperatives. PSDAG helped increase farm income by $21.7 million, increased agricultural investments by $27 million, and supported 166,462 farmers (50% female) to apply new technologies and management practices.