ABN AMRO, Rabobank and BNP Paribas team up to support smallholder coffee farmers

ABN AMRO, Rabobank and BNP Paribas team up with Neumann Kaffee Gruppe (NKG), IDH, and USAID to support smallholder coffee farmers in Kenya, Honduras and Mexico.

These countries will be introducing NKG Bloom in 2019, a programme launched in Uganda in 2017.

NKG Bloom is an initiative of Neumann Kaffee Gruppe, the largest green coffee service group in the world. German based NKG provides farmers with access to finance, an education and technology to harness their full production potential, work more sustainably and to make their coffee traceable.

The three banks provide the financing and, together with NKG, USAID and IDH, they share the credit risk. ABN AMRO structured this unique 25 million-dollar credit facility for NKG and was Lead Arranger and Coordinator.

Perspective for small farmers and more sustainable production 

ABN AMRO’s Karin Kersten on behalf of the banks: “The successful project of NKG Bloom in Uganda in 2017 offers smallholder farmers more perspective and increases the production of sustainable coffee. We’re proud to be involved in this next step to support NKG Bloom together with Rabobank and BNP Paribas.” 

Impact banking

For ABN AMRO it is the third impact banking transaction. The bank is looking to build an impact banking portfolio of around EUR 50 million. Karin Kersten: “We want to be an impactful bank. This transaction shows that we set great store by supporting our clients in making the transition to more sustainable business models. We’re extremely proud that we’ve been able to contribute to this innovative facility.”