The Support to Agricultural Revitalization & Transformation (START) facility was designed in 2017 by UNCDF as a blended finance facility to support the implementation of the Development Initiative for Northern Uganda (DINU) programme’s food security and nutrition component by providing affordable medium-term finance for value adding projects to promote supply of diversified food options in the region.
The facility offers tailor-made combinations of business development services, project development, financial structuring services, and diverse financial products. The START Facility is implemented by the United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) with financial support from the European Union (EU).
The 2nd phase of the START facility is designed to promote growth and job creation by investing in fully integrated and sustainable agribusiness SMEs that create and retain wealth within Uganda. The Facility is intended to support agribusiness SMEs to access affordable medium-term finance in form of grants, concessional and commercial loans to enhance value addition and agro-processing. The Facility aims to provide business development services and facilitate the development of bankable investment proposals grounded in green and circular economy principles. START facility will also support agribusiness SMEs to adopt sustainable business practices and operations, such as the adoption of digital solutions.
START phase II covers all regions of Uganda, scaling up efforts of START phase I that was implemented exclusively in northern Uganda. The project will be implemented by UNCDF and partners over a period of sixty months (five years) starting from January 2023 - December 2027.
The facility aims to achieve the following key results:
- Strengthen institutional capacity of agribusiness SMEs and Financial Institutions to conduct sustainable business and business operations (including digital solutions);
- Improve technical capacity of agribusiness SMEs to develop bankable green investment proposals acceptable by financial institutions.
- Unlock affordable medium-term finance for agribusiness SMEs in value addition and responsible agro processing.
The 2nd phase of START facility implementation will capitalize on the systems and successes generated from the 1st phase and aim to minimize the failures to address the challenges of access to finance for agribusiness SMEs.
