Foreword As we look back on 2020, I wish to recognize the resilience
Maintaining its activities without substantial disruptions, in
and dedication of our team. In addition to adjusting to
2020 the CFC approved financing for eight regular projects
work-from-home arrangements, many members have had
with a total cost of USD 23.6 million. Of the total cost, the Fund
to rearrange full-time care for their families, while others
contribution is USD 10.9 million or 46% of the total project cost.
have grappled with being alone, far from family and isolated
As of December 2020, the Fund had 46 Regular projects plus
even from the neighbourhood. Against this background, it is
a further 25 Fast Track projects, (a total of 71 projects) at various
remarkable what our teams have achieved, detailed here in
stages of start-up and implementation, with an overall cost
this annual report.
of USD 189.6 million. In addition, the Fund is participating in 8 investment funds with equity and partnership financing and
I assumed my duties as the new Managing Director in April
thereby is a part of a team that manages a total portfolio of
2020, in the middle of a pandemic. Keeping the organization
USD 523.0 million.
functioning as usual, and more importantly, quickly adapting to the new environment, was my immediate task. Section II of this
To highlight the emerging topic of strategic importance for
Annual Report will provide you with more details on how we
CFC Member States, our feature article on ‘Inclusive business
endeavoured to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
cases linking agriculture and conservation’ was placed at the centre of this annual report. It rightly indicates that there are
This year we have deployed new ways of doing things digitally,
ways to produce food that protect forests, reduce emissions,
recruited new team members, negotiated new partnerships,
and provide co-benefits for livelihoods, biodiversity, and local
and did our best to positively impact more lives despite the
climatic conditions. Meaning we will have to work more with
challenges of the pandemic. Maybe we touched more lives, than
the businesses and smallholders to adopt better practices and
it would have been possible otherwise, because of COVID-19.
increase productivity, thus preventing further deforestation. This is what CFC is aiming to do with increased intensity,
This is a lesson we, in the CFC, are trying to put in practice with
with the locals, indigenous or ethnic communities, and with
our focus on the communities and countries, where poverty is
increased frequency as we work to address challenges of
more entrenched. The pandemic has reminded us to go ‘local’
climate action -SDG 13 -along with other core SDGs. We invite
before becoming ‘global’, more focus on the SMEs, smallholders,
you to peruse ‘Development impact bonds: Learning from the
local communities, and their life together. Therefore, we remained
Asháninka cocoa and coffee case in Peru’ to know more about
engaged in this proverbial ‘walking back’ along the value chain so
our innovative tool of impact investment titled ‘development
that we can begin from where it all begun. At the producer level
impact bond’ in our project deep inside the Peruvian Amazon
to connect the dots of the value chain up to consumer level.
with the Asháninka indigenous community.
One of the priorities, therefore, that we have been trying to pur-
Given our size and capacity, we have been exploring techno
sue is broader partnership with our peers, wherever they are, and
logies like blockchain, remote sensing, biofriendly means of
thereby multiplying the impact that we wish to have. Benefiting
digitalisation, traceability, biodiversity, and other means of
from the increased use of virtual meetings, the CFC strengthened
agri-ecological options where development is a means, not
its presence in international meetings of relevant development
mere an enforced decision.
partners, including among others the United Nations, UNCTAD, UN-OHRLLS, UN-FAO. Also, the CFC has hosted an event with
Indeed, we have been experiencing a sense of urgency in the
the International Commodity Bodies and promoted webinars
corporate sector to align their businesses more with the SDGs
with SMEs operating in the commodity value chains.
using ESG matrix. More and more businesses are speaking
Foreword | 5
