The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) has featured the Impact-Linked Fund for Eastern and Southern Africa (ILF ESA), managed by iGravity, in its story Tanzania: Funding That Rewards Impact.
Why ILF ESA
In Tanzania, agriculture accounts for around a quarter of GDP and two-thirds of jobs, and climate change is hitting the sector hard. Local SMEs already offer practical solutions, from organic fertilisers to sustainable beekeeping and cocoa, but they struggle to access affordable finance.
ILF ESA was developed with SDC and Fourfold to help close that gap. The principle is simple: the more a company achieves its pre-agreed social and climate targets, the better its financing terms. Results are independently verified, and support comes as Social Impact Incentives (SIINCs) or impact-linked loans.
Results on the ground
ILF ESA’s four Tanzanian portfolio companies have together raised more than $4.5 million in non-grant funding. The SDC story features three of them:
- Guavay (Hakika) produces organic and mineral-organic fertilisers locally, helping smallholder farmers improve soil health. The share of organic fertilisers in its sales has grown from 14% to 21%.
- Upendo Honey sources organic honey from rural beekeepers in Kigoma, tying local incomes to forest protection. Incomes for more than 700 beekeepers have risen by 114%, and the company has created 25 jobs.
- Kokoa Kamili works with more than 7,000 organic cocoa farmers. It trained 3,215 of them in organic farming in the first half of 2026.
“Early signs of this financing mechanism show it can help companies attract additional private investment while strengthening their ability to deliver and scale climate resilience and adaptation impact,” says Daniela Kwayu of the Swiss Embassy in Tanzania.
Looking ahead
Building on its work in Tanzania and Kenya, ILF ESA is now taking its climate focus to new markets, including Zambia, Zimbabwe and Mozambique.
Thank you to SDC for sharing this story, to Fourfold for its partnership, and to the enterprises whose work turns impact-linked finance into change on the ground.
