ISF Advisors

As the year winds down and we look ahead to 2025, we're #hiring for two colleagues to join our growing global team: 📌 Associate Director - Financial Advisory: Take a strong lead on core parts of our project portfolio and work with ISF Directors on transaction development and deal execution for clients. Learn more & apply here: https://lnkd.in/eAVkSiZf 📌 Strategy Associate: Collaborate with the ISF team on #research, design, and development of business models or financial structures focused on #agriculture and #foodsystems. Learn more & apply here: https://lnkd.in/gC-T_dRp Either of these roles sound like a good fit for someone you know? Please share widely with your networks. Wishing you a restful holiday season!

We're #hiring a Strategy Associate to join our growing global team. We're looking for a self-motivated leader who: 🌱 Thrives in a client-facing environment 🌱 Is comfortable traveling & navigating diverse cultures 🌱 Has an analytical mind and creative problem-solving skills 🌱 Is passionate about leveraging #finance to address social & environmental issues in the global #foodsystem Recent ISF Associates have developed #investment tools for food fortification, assessed emerging digital #agriculture platforms, analyzed a range of #climate information services for banks, and backstopped transactional #advisory support for agro-industrialization opportunities in East Africa. ✅ Sound like a good fit for you or someone you know? Learn more about the role & apply today: https://lnkd.in/gC-T_dRp

We're excited to see #FASA initiate operations and start unlocking capital to fill the $100 billion financing gap for agri-SMEs, which are critical drivers of #foodsystem transformation across #Africa. ISF advised the Norwegian government on the creation of this fund-of-funds that provides first loss concessional financing to #investment funds focused on #agriSMEs on the continent. Learn more about FASA: https://www.fasafund.com/ Norad - Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation USAID Investisseurs & Partenaires - I&P CGIAR

Our team is looking forward to engaging in two major sector events later this month: 📌 Clara Colina is attending the Mercy Corps AgriFin Learning Event in Nairobi Oct 15-16 📌 Dan Zook, Craig Courtney, and Matthew Newman will be at The Global Impact Investing Network Impact Forum in Amsterdam October 22-24 Planning to attend one or both of these conferences? Reach out to the team to find time to connect.

ISF Advisors is proud to partner with TechnoServe on this project

As #ClimateWeekNYC approaches, we’re thinking about the vulnerability of our global #foodsystem, and the critical role that climate adaptation financing can play in building agricultural communities’ resilience to climate impacts. 📈 Investing in adaptation for #agriculture is complicated, but it is possible. There are ample opportunities for a wide range of private investors. In partnership with AgFunder, we identified six investable pathways that can help #smallholder farmers adapt to climate change: https://lnkd.in/efGbJYDX 💰 To address the challenge at scale, we would like to see more catalytic capital directed to #adaptation #finance for agriculture. In partnership with USAID Feed the Future Market Systems and Partnerships we developed standardized selection criteria and impact metrics to help donors prioritize investments in adaptation-focused agriculture funds: https://lnkd.in/d35erRnD ✅ A more informed + proactive approach to managing #climate risk will enable financial service providers to develop products & services that support their clients’ adaptation needs. We mapped the landscape of digital solutions on both a global and market level that can support #risk management when serving clients in agriculture: https://lnkd.in/eQB5JSiD 💧 Irrigation can play a key role in developing agriculture and promoting #resilience, yet only 3-6% of cropland in Sub-Saharan Africa is irrigated. Innovative business models and technologies are emerging, but they have not scaled. We worked with Hystra to understand why, and outline a coordinated pathway to growth: https://lnkd.in/eGSJ-VMV 💡 Explore more ISF #research: https://lnkd.in/gspQvPtf Our Executive Director Dan Zook will be attending various #ClimateWeek events – reach out and connect to learn more.

Join us this Thursday at 9AM EST to discuss the role of climate adaptation financing in #agriculture with Climatelinks, Climate Policy Initiative, and USAID Climate Finance for Development Accelerator (USAID CFDA). We'll share actionable insights from our #research that can be leveraged to allocate resources more strategically towards #climateadaptation #investment opportunities with the most pressing needs. 📍 Register to join Thursday's discussion: https://lnkd.in/eQ66gpEs 💡 Read our Climate Adaptation Finance for Agriculture Donor & Investor Guidance: https://lnkd.in/d35erRnD

We're #hiring for a Strategy Associate to join our growing global team. We're looking for a self-motivated leader who passionate about leveraging #finance to address social and environmental issues in the global #foodsystem. Recent ISF Associates have developed #investment tools for food fortification, assessed emerging digital #agriculture platforms, analyzed a range of climate information services for banks, and backstopped transactional #advisory support for agro-industrialization opportunities in East Africa. Sound like a great fit for you or someone you know? Learn more about the position & apply here: https://lnkd.in/gC-T_dRp

Business-to-business (B2B) #agtechs are on the rise throughout the Global South, creating entirely new possibilities for clients working with #smallholder #farmers – from banks, to offtakers, to microfinance institutions (MFIs) and cooperatives. However, their growth trajectories have varied drastically, with some players achieving significant scale and others folding. In our latest blog, we examine the nuances behind these #B2B solutions and share our perspective on the #market trajectory over the coming years: https://lnkd.in/eipEf2Zz

There is no doubt that the #agtech ecosystem is rapidly maturing. This is demonstrated by both the number of solutions in the market and the influx of funding that has been invested. But while headline numbers signify a maturing ecosystem, the reality is that many actors, especially in the Global South, struggle to achieve product-market fit and scale. To unpack this, we facilitated a comparative #analysis between the agtech ecosystem and other ecosystems serving low and middle-income populations. Our latest blog takes a look at key drivers of #innovation ecosystems, the relative maturity of different countries, and best and worst-case scenarios for the future of agtech ecosystems in the Global South. 📌 Read it here: https://lnkd.in/eiD2dE47