The Togolese Ministry of Development (Ministère du Développement à la Base, de l’Artisanat, de la Jeunesse et de l’Emploi des Jeunes) encourages banks, microfinance institutions and other credit providers to expand their financing of the agricultural sector as part of their “Assistance for Employment and Insertion of Youth in Expanding Industry Sector” (PAEIJ-SP) programme. The PAEIJ-SP programme currently co-operates with one bank and four microfinance institutions in Togo.

The Togolese Ministry of Development selected IPC to build agricultural value chain lending capacity at these five financial institutions via targeted training measures. IPC’s training activities focus on enhancing the financial analysis abilities of staff, with a focus on agricultural sector financial analysis and risk assessment. In particular, IPC trains staff in agricultural sector marketing and product development, and in portfolio management and loan recovery methods appropriate for the agricultural value chain finance approach.