What roles could private actors play in agricultural adaptation in sub-Saharan Africa?

The document analyses 64 agricultural adaptation projects in sub-Saharan Africa approved between 2010 and 2016, finding that 61% involved the private sector. It categorises this involvement into three levels: stimulating future investment through awareness and business models, using private actors as service providers for public activities, and leveraging private capital through incentives. While the first two roles are more common, the report finds limited evidence of large-scale private investment being leveraged, with one notable exception in Madagascar. The authors argue that project designers should identify commercial opportunities across the entire value chain from the start to better attract diverse private actors.

• Between 2010 and 2016, 61% of the 64 identified agricultural adaptation projects in sub-Saharan Africa funded by five international climate funds and Rwanda’s Green Fund (FONERWA) included the private sector.
• Private sector involvement in these projects generally falls into three categories: stimulating future investment via awareness, acting as providers of goods and services using public finance, or directly investing capital leveraged by public finance.
• Many projects focus on raising awareness of climate risks and business opportunities to stimulate future investment, including the development of tailored weather-based insurance and business models for ecosystem-based adaptation in Rwanda.
• Private actors frequently serve as implementers of public activities by providing inputs like drought-resistant seeds and fertilizers, or services such as irrigation training and post-harvest infrastructure management.
• There is limited evidence of public finance successfully leveraging private investment at scale, with the most significant example being a GCF-funded project in Madagascar where a private investor is expected to increase equity from US$ 0.5 million to US$ 50.5 million.
• The report recommends that policy-makers identify commercial opportunities across the entire agricultural value chain—including post-harvest and commercialization stages—rather than focusing solely on production to better attract private actors.

APA

Canales, N., Klein, R., & Davis, M. (2017). What roles could private actors play in agricultural adaptation in sub-Saharan Africa? Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/what-roles-could-private-actors-play-in-agricultural-adaptatation-in-sub-saharan-africa.pdf

Chicago

Canales, Nella, Richard Klein, and Marion Davis. What roles could private actors play in agricultural adaptation in sub-Saharan Africa? Stockholm Environment Institute, 2017. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/what-roles-could-private-actors-play-in-agricultural-adaptatation-in-sub-saharan-africa.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Canales |first1=Nella |last2=Klein |first2=Richard |last3=Davis |first3=Marion |title=What roles could private actors play in agricultural adaptation in sub-Saharan Africa? |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=August 2017 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/what-roles-could-private-actors-play-in-agricultural-adaptatation-in-sub-saharan-africa.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{canales2017what, author = {Canales, Nella and Klein, Richard and Davis, Marion}, title = {{What roles could private actors play in agricultural adaptation in sub-Saharan Africa?}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2017}, month = aug, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/what-roles-could-private-actors-play-in-agricultural-adaptatation-in-sub-saharan-africa.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }