This paper discusses the main findings of research conducted by FAO on term finance for agriculture. It summarises the main lessons from a number of case studies of providers of term loans, leasing and equity finance for small- and medium-scale farm related investments. The first section briefly introduces the background of the research and highlights the main challenges and hot spots for providing agricultural term finance. The subsequent section illustrates the financial technologies used by the case study institutions to manage risks and transaction costs. The final section points to the crucial role of donors in suporting rural financial institutions and their clients to expand the financial frontier for term finance in rural area, and highlights some avenues for support