In the modern globalized economy, it is important for businesses of all sizes to take advantage of the opportunity to enter diverse markets around the world. Through an international presence, organizations can remain competitive. Agricultural Finance and Opportunities for Investment and Expansion provides emerging research on the sources and profitable uses of funds in agricultural enterprises and sustainable agricultural production. While highlighting topics such as agricultural credit, enterprise expansion, and risk management, this publication explores the theoretical applications of agriculture through a business perspective. This book is an important resource for managers, academics, researchers, scholars, and graduate-level students seeking current research on the implementation of agriculture as a means of improving society and economy.

`This is a "must read" for anyone interested in value chain finance.---Kenneth Shwedel, Agricultural Economist --Book Jacket.

A comprehensive resource for understanding the complexities of agricultural finance Agricultural Finance: From Crops to Land, Water, and Infrastructure is a pioneering book that offers a comprehensive resource for understanding the worldwide agriculture markets, from spikes in agricultural commodity prices to trading strategies, and the agribusiness industry generally to the challenges of feeding the planet in particular. The book also goes in-depth on the topics of land, water, fertilizers, biofuels, and ethanol. Written by Helyette Geman—an industry expert in commodity derivatives—this book explores the agricultural marketplace and the cycles in agricultural commodity prices that can be the key to investor success. This resource addresses a wide range of other important topics as well, including agricultural insurance, energy, shipping and bunker prices, sustainability, investments in land, subsidies, agricultural derivatives, and farming risk-management. Other topics covered include structured products and agricultural commodities ETFs; trade finance in an era of credit shortage; securitization and commodity-linked notes; grains: wheat, corn, soybeans; softs: coffee, cocoa, cotton; shipping as a key component of agricultural trade; and the major agricultural shipping routes and the costs. The book: Offers the first comprehensive resource that deals with the all aspects of agricultural finance Includes information that is crucial for pension funds, asset managers, hedge funds, agribusiness corporates, CTAs and regulators Covers a range of topics from agricultural bunker prices, futures, options to major shipping routes and the costs This text is a must-have resource for accessing the information required to trade successfully in the agricultural marketplace.

Stefan Ouma seeks to debunk the misconceptions and assumptions about "finance-gone-farming" with a penetrating analysis of case studies taken from both the developed and developing world. The book provides fascinating insights into the inner workings of the agri-focused asset management industry.

The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive assessment of the current state of financial inclusion of the rural youth in Uganda, with a specific focus on their engagement in the agricultural sector and the financial services that are available to them to pursue their business ventures in this area. The study seeks to illustrate and bring to light the core constraints and opportunities associated with the provision of tailored financial services to young agricultural entrepreneurs in the country, while showcasing the essential role that key support actors (such as the Government, Central Bank, international development institutions, NGOs, foundations and many others) can play in fostering the provision and uptake of such services.

Investing in agriculture is one of the most effective ways of reducing hunger and poverty, promoting agricultural productivity and enhancing environmental sustainability. Covering the development of sustainable agriculture, food production and food security, this paper explains the relationship between all levels of investment and their interdependence to be successful. It also describes how to drive increased investment, at what stage and where, providing a useful overview of investment in agriculture for policymakers and researchers.

Investing to promote agricultural growth and poverty reduction is a central pillar of the World Bank's current rural strategy, 'Reaching the Rural Poor' (2003). This 'Sourcebook' addresses how to implement the rural strategy, by sharing information on investment options and identifying innovative approaches that will aid the design of future lending programs for agriculture. It provides generic good practices and many examples that demonstrate investment in agriculture can provide rewarding and sustainable returns to development efforts. It is divided into eleven self-contained modules. Each module contains three different types of subunits that can also be stand-alone documents: I. Module Overview II. Agricultural Investment Notes III. Innovative Activity Profiles. The stand-alone nature of the subunits allows flexibility and adaptability of the material. Selected readings and web links are also provided for readers who seek more in-depth information. The 'Sourcebook' draws on a wide range of experiences from donor agencies, governments, institutions, and other groups active in agricultural development. It is an invaluable reference tool for policy makers, professionals, academics and students, and anyone with an interest in agricultural investments.

Forest landscapes are inhabited by approximately 1.5 billion people. The aggregate gross annual value of these smallholder producers approaches US$1.3 trillion. Adding value to that production, through financial investment, will be key to delivering the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Therefore, access to finance is an important issue. The Forest and Farm Facility (FFF) commissioned this scoping paper to assess what might be done to improve access to finance. Organisation of forest and farm producers allows finance to be channelled toward valueadded investments. But the motivation to form forest and farm producer organisations (FFPOs) varies with context, from the desire to secure resource rights for Indigenous peoples in the forest core, to the desire to strengthen economic scale efficiencies in periurban forest product processing industries. The scale and type of finance needs vary and span enabling investments (grants or concessional loans)through to asset investments (market-rate capital that requires a return). Access to finance for FFPOs requires tailored approaches. For FFPOs, enabling investments in four key areas are needed to create the conditions and necessary track record to attract asset investment: (i) secure commercial rights; (ii) strong organisation for scale; (iii) appropriate technical extension; and (iv) fair market access and business incubation. Enabling investments of this sort make FFPO businesses bankable and affords them access to finance.

The world's demand for food is expected to double within the next 50 years, while the natural resources that sustain agriculture will become increasingly scarce, degraded, and vulnerable to the effects of climate change. In many poor countries, agriculture accounts for at least 40 percent of GDP and 80 percent of employment. At the same time, about 70 percent of the world's poor live in rural areas and most depend on agriculture for their livelihoods. 'World Development Report 2008' seeks to assess where, when, and how agriculture can be an effective instrument for economic development, especially development that favors the poor. It examines several broad questions: How has agriculture changed in developing countries in the past 20 years? What are the important new challenges and opportunities for agriculture? Which new sources of agricultural growth can be captured cost effectively in particular in poor countries with large agricultural sectors as in Africa? How can agricultural growth be made more effective for poverty reduction? How can governments facilitate the transition of large populations out of agriculture, without simply transferring the burden of rural poverty to urban areas? How can the natural resource endowment for agriculture be protected? How can agriculture's negative environmental effects be contained? This year's report marks the 30th year the World Bank has been publishing the 'World Development Report'.