DFCD kicks off new funding

Last week, on the 9th of November, the DFCD held an event in the wonderful setting of Pulchri Studio, Den Haag, to celebrate and launch the additional €40M granted to its Origination Facility by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Making the most of this funding over the next four years will require cooperation across the whole spectrum of DFCD stakeholders - investors, project owners, businesses, NGOs, the government and beyond. In the spirit of collaboration, we gathered representatives from these groups together to showcase our work so far, engage in constructive discussions and start building relationships that will help cement the success of the Origination Facility moving forward.

First up, Pieternel Boogaard, Head of Agribusiness, Food and Water at FMO was introduced by our expert moderator, Esther van Rijswijk, to open up proceedings and explain to the audience how the DFCD operates.

We were grateful to then have Steven Collet, Deputy Director General for International Cooperation from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, deliver an inspiring keynote speech on Financing the Future.

His advice: 'Be patient, forge partnerships, and build at scale'.

This was followed by 1-minute pitches from some of our Origination Facility Regional Leads:
Tania Evia (WWF) presented Financoop - an aggregator of cooperatives in Ecuador that's providing a green credit line for climate-smart farming techniques. Tigere Muzenda (SNV) showcased SokoFresh - a Kenyan company specialising in solar-powered cold storage solutions combatting food waste. Finally, Alex Downs (SNV) shared his work with Camimex, which is promoting climate resilience through mangrove shrimp production in Vietnam.

Aaron Vermeulen, the WWF Global Finance Practice Lead, then spoke to the room about our aspirations for the future, including our enhanced focus on Biodiversity, Gender Equality and Social Inclusion, and Food and Nutrition Security.

We then moved to a high-level panel featuring Mónica Altamirano, Director of Climate Impact at WaterEquity, Agnes Johan, Head of Blended Finance at Rabo Partnerships, and His Excellency Riaz Hamidullah, the Ambassador of Bangladesh to the Netherlands. A lively discussion followed on what is required to make the efforts of the Origination Facility a success.

The session left the room with a lot of food for thought and the networking drinks that followed provided the perfect setting for fruitful discussions to continue. We are extremely grateful to all who made this great event possible and are excited that the stage is now set for the Origination Facility to deliver more climate finance to landscapes and communities over the next four years.