Agri-food sector starved of funding

The commission says the financing gap to overcome the current challenges of the agri-food sector is estimated at €12.5bn, of which 78% is needed by small-sized agri-food enterprises, and 57% is for long-term loans.

The shortage of investment funding for the agri-food sector has been identified by the European Commission as one of the challenges to transition towards a smart, sustainable, competitive, resilient, and diversified sector.

Since 2011, investment in the sector increased by 27%. However, the commission says there is now a risk-averse attitude to the sector among investors and banks, due to its low-profit margins, lack of collateral, long payback periods, and the lack of benchmark data to assess potential investments.