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Mr Jeremy Cleaver, PSDI’s Senior Finance Sector Specialist, and PSDI consultant Mr Simon Thompson, presented on PSDI’s Agriculture Value Chain Financing work at the launch of the ADB’s Asia Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Monitor 2023: How Small Firms Can Contribute to Resilient Growth in the Pacific Post COVID-19 Pandemic in Sydney on 25 October 2023. 

The presentation was in support of a PSDI-authored chapter in the SME Monitor that presents three case studies showcasing innovative financing mechanisms for farmers in the Pacific.

Agriculture is critical to the economies of the Pacific, underpinning a dynamic private sector and providing a livelihood for around 65% of the population. Yet agribusiness has struggled to develop, partly due to a lack of access to finance—an ongoing challenge to private sector growth in the Pacific more broadly.

The case studies highlight examples in Fiji, Papua New Guinea, and Samoa of financial institutions using secured transactions frameworks—established with PSDI support—to develop lending products that make it easier for farmers to borrow money by using vehicles, crops, and other movable assets as collateral.

These activities form part of PSDI’s Financing Growth focus area, which works to address the barriers preventing businesses from accessing the appropriate finance needed to grow the private sector. This includes continuing to support and encourage banks to innovate in their use of secured transactions frameworks to develop new products.

Read the full chapter in the SME Monitor here: Asia Small and Medium-Sized Enterprise Monitor 2023: How Small Firms Can Contribute to Resilient Growth in the Pacific Post COVID-19 Pandemic | Asian Development Bank (adb.org)