Africa | October 3, 2019

French and Dutch banks invest in Neumann Group’s sustainable coffee initiative

Jessica Pothering
ImpactAlpha Editor

Jessica Pothering

ImpactAlpha, October 3 – Global coffee giant Neumann Kaffee Gruppe is working to boost the incomes and resilience of smallholder farmers in its supply chain. It launched NKG BLOOM in 2017 to connect coffee growers in Uganda with farming inputs, financing and training.

Now, French bank BNP Paribas and Dutch banks ABN Amro and Rabobank are helping Neumann Kaffee Gruppe expand NKG BLOOM to 100,000 farmers in 10 countries with a $25 million loan.

The Smallholder Livelihoods Facility includes a risk sharing agreement between the partner banks in case any of the farmers or farming groups default on loans and credit issued through NKG BLOOM. (USAID and the Dutch Sustainable Trade Initiative have provided guarantees to minimize the banks’ risk.)

“This loan facility is an example of how a responsible corporate citizen and the finance sector can put in place a solution that helps entire communities currently at risk to poverty and financial inclusion,” said BNP Paribas’ Yannick Jung.

NKG BLOOM aims to reach 300,000 coffee growers by 2030.