Rabo Foundation in 2023

Although the current challenges affect all layers of society, people in low-income groups are hit the hardest. These are mainly people who already had difficulty building a stable future and participating in our society. In the past year, we at Rabo Foundation remained true to our mission: investing in self-reliance. We also made targeted choices to continue contributing to two important transitions: the food transition and the transition to a more inclusive society.

In Africa, Asia, and Latin America, smallholder farmers produce at least a third of the world's food supply and play a crucial role in feeding our growing global population. Over the past year, these farmers have once again faced a variety of challenges. Especially the increasing climate changes are increasingly affecting the quality and sustainable production of crops and thus the income of smallholder farmers. Therefore, our focus over the past year has been on financing more climate-smart agricultural projects.

At a time when there is a growing demand for sufficient nutritious food, the role of smallholder farmers is crucial. The challenge is not only that farmers produce enough and sustainably. Access to financing to invest in their business is a bigger challenge for smallholder farmers. They have financing needs but do not qualify for a bank loan. The role of financial service providers such as microfinance institutions (MFIs) and savings and credit cooperatives is essential in this. This was also the main theme of the European Micro Finance Platform (eMFP) conference last year where we were a partner and speaker. This also underscores our commitment to finance more financial service providers, so that more smallholder farmers in rural areas gain access to the financial resources needed.

To achieve positive change, it is necessary to join forces. We see this not only in the organizations we finance where, for example, small-scale farmers unite in a cooperative. It is also about bringing together like-minded organizations to learn from each other and to collaborate where possible. In addition to our involvement with eMFP, we were also a partner of SEWF23 this year. An event that took place in the Netherlands for the first time and could not have taken place at a better time.

In light of the challenges mentioned earlier, the role of social enterprises in the Netherlands is important. Organizations that want to make an impact with an innovative business model by, among other things, giving people in a vulnerable position access to fair economic and social opportunities. Like the social enterprises that we finance and that increase access to work with their company. In 2023, we also fulfilled our ambition to finance more social entrepreneurs in the Netherlands who work in a circular manner.

It has been fifty years since we were founded as Rabo Foundation. Therefore, in 2024 we will reflect on 50 years of positive change. We not only look at what we have achieved but we also look ahead. In a rapidly changing world, we want to increase our impact. By reaching even more people and by an improved approach in the field of impact management. We improve our impact monitoring by focusing on clear and targeted impact goals to gain better insight into our impact on targeted themes, such as how we contribute to strengthening resilience against climate changes and learning from these insights. In the coming year, we will also update our multi-year strategy (2025-2028). For this, we look at how we as an organization remain relevant and true to our mission.

We have been able to do our work for 50 years thanks to the support of many others.
On behalf of the team of Rabo Foundation, I would therefore like to thank all our clients, donors, collaborating organizations, and our supervisory board for their involvement and trust.

Lidwien Schils
Managing director Rabo Foundation