ADB Launches Green-Grow Lending Scheme to Bridge Financing Gap for Smallholder Vegetable Farmers

Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) PLC has launched its Green-Grow Vegetable Farmers Lending Scheme, a targeted credit facility aimed at expanding access to structured agricultural financing and boosting local vegetable production, with the first phase already disbursing funds to eligible smallholder farmers in the Greater Accra and Volta Regions.

The initiative reinforces ADB's commitment to agricultural transformation, financial inclusion and sustainable agribusiness development, positioning the state-owned lender as a strategic financing partner in efforts to strengthen Ghana's domestic food production capacity.

The scheme is designed to address one of the most persistent challenges confronting smallholder farmers: limited access to affordable, timely financing to acquire essential farm inputs, improve productivity and maximise returns.

ADB's Broader Agricultural Mandate

Commenting on the initiative, ADB Managing Director Edward Ato Sarpong emphasised the Bank's commitment to supporting productive sectors of the economy, particularly agriculture.

"Ghana's agricultural transformation must be driven by deliberate investments that empower farmers to produce more, earn more, and contribute meaningfully to national development. Through the Green-Grow initiative, ADB is expanding its agricultural financing mandate. We believe that when farmers succeed, communities prosper, businesses grow, and the national economy becomes stronger," Sarpong said.

The ADB MD noted that the initiative reflects the Bank's determination to move beyond traditional banking by developing innovative, commercially sustainable financing solutions that directly address the needs of agricultural producers. He further underscored the importance of strengthening domestic food production and building a more resilient agricultural sector capable of responding to changing market demands.

Sarpong, a Chartered Accountant who has led ADB since February 2025, has previously disclosed that nearly 35 per cent of the Bank's loan portfolio is dedicated to agriculture, reflecting its longstanding commitment to the sector .

Structured Lending to Bridge the Financing Gap

Prof. Ferdinand Makafui Ahiakpor, Deputy Managing Director in charge of Services, described the scheme as a strategic intervention to bridge the financing gap in Ghana's agricultural value chain.

"Access to appropriate financing remains a critical factor in unlocking the full potential of Ghana's agricultural sector. Green-Grow represents a practical approach to making agricultural credit more accessible, structured and responsive to the realities of smallholder vegetable farmers," Ahiakpor said.

He explained that the scheme's structured lending approach would help align financing with farmers' production activities while promoting sound credit management and long-term financial sustainability. Strengthening agricultural financing, he added, requires a balanced approach that supports farmers' growth while maintaining responsible lending standards.

Evidence-Based Design

Kwame Asiedu Attrams, General Manager for Agribusiness at ADB, explained that the initiative followed preliminary field engagements with vegetable farmers across selected communities in the Greater Accra, Eastern and Volta Regions. The engagements identified promising financing opportunities among irrigated vegetable producers—particularly farmers with established production experience, market linkages and strong repayment potential.

"Our engagements with farmers revealed enormous production potential that is being constrained by inadequate access to financing and the high cost of credit. Green-Grow has been carefully designed to address these challenges by providing structured credit support to eligible farmers," Attrams said.

"By connecting financing to viable production activities, we aim to help farmers improve yields, expand their operations and take advantage of emerging market opportunities."

Attrams indicated that the pilot would initially concentrate on vegetable production, taking into account seasonal conditions and market demand. Eligibility under the scheme will be guided by factors including access to irrigation, farming experience, group cohesion and a satisfactory credit history.

A Persistent Structural Challenge

The Green-Grow scheme enters a financing landscape where formal credit remains largely out of reach for most smallholder farmers. Research has shown that banks face compounding obstacles: farmers lack verifiable income records and credit histories, often cannot pledge family land as collateral, and the transaction costs of processing small loans in remote areas make lending commercially unviable .

A financial landscape study for Ghana's smallholder horticulture sector found that the majority of farmer investments are financed through informal sources—personal savings, family and friends—while direct formal financing from banks and microfinance institutions accounted for a negligible share. Even among microfinance institutions, financing for smallholder horticulture was limited to 2–5 per cent of portfolios .

The ADB scheme's emphasis on group cohesion and irrigation access suggests a deliberate effort to mitigate these structural barriers by lending to farmers with identifiable production capacity and some form of collective organisation.

Growing Ghana's Agricultural Future

The Green-Grow Vegetable Farmers Lending Scheme marks another step in ADB's efforts to strengthen agricultural value chains and support the development of commercially viable farming enterprises. The initiative is expected to increase local production, strengthen farmers' economic opportunities and contribute to Ghana's broader agricultural development objectives.

The Bank said it is investing not only in farms, but also in the people, businesses and communities that will shape Ghana's agricultural future.