African countries need to strengthen access to agricultural and disaster-risk financing to protect farmers and rural livelihoods from climate-related shocks, according to Dr Jean Chrysostome Ngabitsinze, Director General of the African Risk Capacity (ARC) Group. He argues that governments must move beyond relying on emergency funding after disasters occur and instead establish financing arrangements that allow them to respond earlier to droughts, floods and other climate emergencies.
Rwanda faces particular climate risks. Prolonged dry spells in eastern districts such as Bugesera and Kayonza, alongside destructive rainfall and landslides in other parts of the country, demonstrate how climate-related events can affect farmers and wider economic activity. Agriculture remains a major source of employment and economic activity in Rwanda, making climate resilience critical for the country's economy.
Ngabitsinze sees parametric insurance, which releases payments when predetermined conditions such as rainfall levels or satellite-monitored weather indicators reach agreed thresholds, as an important tool. According to figures provided by ARC, the organisation has disbursed more than $170 million in parametric insurance payouts since its establishment, providing early-response protection to over 26.4 million people across participating countries. However, he emphasises that insurance should complement other financing arrangements, including government reserves, contingency credit and social protection programmes.
Rwanda is demonstrating progress in expanding farm financing through partnerships between government, development organisations and the private sector. During the Africa Food Systems Forum held in Kigali in September 2026, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, Bank of Kigali and Aceli Africa announced a $21 million blended-finance initiative to improve access to finance for farmers' organisations and smallholder farmers. The programme combines $12 million in IFAD financing with $9 million in co-financing from Bank of Kigali and is expected to strengthen approximately 215 farmers' organisations, provide financing to around 172 of them and benefit more than 35,000 smallholder farmers, particularly women and young people. The initiative targets value chains including maize, rice, cassava, dairy and horticulture.
Beyond financing, Ngabitsinze argues that improving agricultural resilience requires addressing wider challenges facing farmers, including limited access to credit, agricultural inputs, infrastructure, extension services and markets. A joint report published in April 2026 by the Food and Agriculture Organization, the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, the World Food Programme and the African Union Commission found that bank credit to agriculture accounts for less than four per cent of total credit in Africa. Small and medium-sized agricultural businesses continue to struggle to access finance because they are often too large for microfinance institutions but too small to meet commercial banks' lending requirements.
The African Union has established a continental framework through the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme Kampala Strategy and Action Plan for 2026 to 2035, which seeks to mobilise $100 billion in investment, increase Africa's agrifood output by 45 per cent and triple intra-African trade in agricultural commodities and food products over the next decade. For Rwanda, access to agricultural finance remains one of the sector's major constraints, making initiatives like the blended-finance programme announced in Kigali particularly important for expanding opportunities for farmers to secure credit and invest in production.