The Lending to the Agriculture Sector Toolkit is a suite of resources designed to support financial institutions (FIs) in: (i) making a determination whether or not to get into or ramp up agricultural sector lending; (ii) and if so, to rapidly set-up an agricultural lending unit.

It was originally designed by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to increase access to agriculture finance in the sub-Saharan Africa where access to agriculture finance is a particular challenge, but has universal applicability. The underlying premise is that FIs will not get into areas of specialized lending areas unless and until they believe that they can do so profitably and sustainably.The toolkit therefore aims reduce risks and transaction costs by promoting “a standardization of lending processes and a move toward international best practices for agricultural lending.” It includes a comprehensive collection of product sheets, policies, templates, tools, manuals, and guidelines for FIs on how to increase agricultural lending in a sustainable manner.