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La première entreprise indienne dirigée par des agriculteurs lève des fonds auprès d’un groupe d’investisseurs européens
Sahyadri Farms Post Harvest Care Limited a levé 310 crores de roupies (près de 40 millions d’euros) de capital de croissance auprès d’un groupe d’investisseurs axés sur l’impact. Incofin, Korys, FMO et Proparco considèrent que Sahyadri Farms est bien placée pour aider les agriculteurs à gérer leur entreprise de manière plus rentable et durable.
L’Inde est un pays où la population est jeune et ambitieuse (74 % de la population a moins de 45 ans) et cherche à enrichir sa vie par le travail et l’esprit d’entreprise. Par ailleurs, le pays est confronté à des défis tels que l’inégalité (entre les sexes, en matière d’éducation et de richesse familiale), des technologies dépassées, des chaînes d’approvisionnement inefficaces et un manque d’accès au capital. Le pays connaît un fort mouvement vers l’entrepreneuriat pour contribuer à résoudre ces problèmes multidimensionnels.
Sahyadri Farms est un bon exemple d’entrepreneuriat rural fournissant des solutions complètes aux petits agriculteurs et aux exploitants agricoles marginaux.
En 2010, un groupe de 10 agriculteurs a pris l’initiative de produire et d’exporter collectivement des raisins frais vers l’Europe. Cette initiative est devenue la principale entreprise d’exportation et de transformation de fruits et légumes qu’est Sahyadri Farms aujourd’hui, au service de plus de 18 000 agriculteurs, couvrant plus de 31 000 acres et 9 cultures. L’entreprise accompagne ses agriculteurs depuis le choix des cultures jusqu’aux pratiques agricoles qu’ils emploient, en passant par les intrants qu’ils utilisent et la manière dont ils récoltent et vendent leurs produits agricoles. L’entreprise propose par exemple une plateforme numérique qui informe les agriculteurs sur les variétés de cultures à haut rendement, les intrants agricoles, le climat en temps réel et l’accès au marché.
L’impact économique et social de Sahyadri Farms pour ces agriculteurs est considérable. Namdeo Pawar est l’un d’entre eux : « En 2012, j’étais sur le point de vendre mon terrain. Sahyadri Farms m’a soutenu, m’a aidé à me relever, et je me suis poussé à reprendre le travail. Grâce à Sahyadri Farms, mes revenus ont augmenté. En 2014, j’ai même remboursé mon emprunt bancaire. » Pour l’agriculteur Anil Dawre aussi, le fait de travailler avec Sahyadri Farms a entraîné un retournement de situation : « Je cultive sur moins d’une acre, car une partie de mon terrain est occupée par ma maison et une étable pour les animaux. L’agriculture de groupe s’est avérée être un succès. Mes parents n’ont jamais imaginé que les produits de leur fils voyageraient à l’étranger. Leur joie est sans limite. »
Les capitaux provenant de Korys, FMO, Proparco et Incofin sont destinés à poursuivre la croissance de l’entreprise agricole. Sahyadri Farms souhaite étendre sa capacité de traitement des produits à base de fruits et légumes, mettre en place une usine de biomasse pour produire de l’électricité à partir des déchets de traitement et améliorer ses infrastructures, comme les entrepôts de conditionnement.
« L’idée de Sahyadri Farms est d’unir les agriculteurs et de les faire penser comme des entrepreneurs professionnels. Nous construisons une organisation durable, évolutive et rentable pour toutes nos parties prenantes en faisant de l’agriculture une activité rémunératrice et viable pour tous les petits exploitants et les agriculteurs marginaux. » – Vilas Shinde, agriculteur fondateur et directeur général de Sahyadri Farms.
Alpen Capital a agi en tant que conseiller stratégique exclusif de Sahyadri Farms pour cette transaction.
CITATIONS
Rahul Rai, Partner at Incofin India: “Incofin feels privileged to lead this investor consortium and its partnership with Sahyadri Farms to support its spread as a global role model of a partnership-based approach to farming that results in sustainable financial impact, climate change adaptation and inclusive growth in rural communities while creating a technology-driven, globally competitive business.”
“The investment in Sahyadri Farms is perfectly in line with our investment strategy and philosophy,” adds Katti Van Oosterwijck, Senior Investment Manager at Korys. “We strongly believe in the importance of making the food value chain more sustainable and ethical. As such, we are very proud that we have invested in Sahyadri Farms: they stimulate their network of more than 18,000 small-landholding farms to build an entrepreneurial mindset and ensure that a fair compensation for their produce and labour is received. In doing so, they adhere to the most stringent global standards of agricultural practices and provide the highest value to the end consumer.”
Michael Jongeneel, CEO of FMO: ”We are very happy to have found a long-term partner in Sahyadri Farms to support smallholder farmers in India. We are impressed by Sahyadri Farms’ ability to identify and deliver exactly the help farmers need to make their business flourish. We expect this first international equity investment in a farmer-led organization in India to help Sahyadri Farms reach even more farmers and set a blueprint for further growth in the industry.’’
Françoise Lombard, CEO of Proparco: « Proparco is proud to become a shareholder of Sahyadri Farms, one of the largest players in the Indian fruit and vegetable sector, alongside Incofin, Korys and FMO. This investment in a leading Indian agricultural company committed to a responsible approach will generate many positive social and environmental impacts. First, nearly 15,000 farmers will be able to enter a modern supply chain, with access to regenerative farming practices and quality equipment, enabling them to increase yields and quality of their production, while reducing farm losses and the use of pesticides and fertilizers. Thanks to this investment, Sahyadri Farms will be able to implement concrete measures to adapt to climate change, but also to mitigate it by increasing its share of renewable energy production to more than 50%, and finally, to implement its zero waste policy ».
About Incofin Investment Management
Incofin is an independent emerging markets focused impact investment fund manager, focused on financial inclusion, the agri-food value chain and safe drinking water, driven by a purpose to promote inclusive progress. Incofin IM is an AIFM licensed fund manager and has over EUR 1 billion in assets under management. Incofin has a team of more than 80 professionals spread over its headquarters in Belgium and local investment teams in India, Colombia, Kenya and Cambodia.
As a leading impact investment firm, Incofin has invested (via equity and debt financing) over EUR 2.7 billion in more than 320 investees, financial institutions and SMEs in the agri-food value chain, across 65 countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean and Eastern Europe.
For more information: please visit: www.incofin.com
About Korys
Korys is the investment company of the Colruyt family. Today, it has more than EUR 4.5 billion of assets under management. Besides holding a significant participation in the Colruyt Group, a leading retail company in Belgium and France, it actively manages participations in privately held companies and in private equity funds. Korys has also set up proprietary funds to manage its portfolio of listed investments. Across its activities, Korys’ investment decisions are taken with a long-term perspective and on basis of strict economic (Profit), social (People) and ecological (Planet) criteria. Korys aims to create sustainable value in 3 major ecosystems: Life Sciences, Energy Transition and Conscious Consumer. To do this, Korys can count on a motivated team of 30 professionals based in Belgium and Luxemburg.
For more information: please visit: www.korys.be
About FMO
FMO is the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank. As a leading impact investor, FMO supports sustainable private sector growth in developing countries and emerging markets by investing in ambitious projects and entrepreneurs. FMO believes that a strong private sector leads to economic and social development and has a 50+ year proven track-record in empowering people to employ their skills and improve their quality of life. FMO focuses on three sectors that have high development impact: financial institutions, energy, and agribusiness, food & water. With a total committed portfolio of EUR ~12 billion spanning over 85 countries, FMO is one of the larger bilateral private sector development banks globally.
For more information: please visit: www.fmo.nl
About Proparco
Proparco is the private sector financing arm of Agence Française de Développement Group (AFD Group). It has been promoting sustainable economic, social and environmental development for over 40 years. Proparco provides funding and support to both businesses and financial institutions in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle-East. Its action focuses on the key development sectors: infrastructure, mainly for renewable energies, agribusiness, financial institutions, health and education.
Its operations aim to strengthen the contribution of private players to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the international community in 2015. To this end, Proparco finances companies, whose activity contributes to creating jobs and decent incomes, providing essential goods and services and combating climate change.
For a World in Common.
For more information: please visit: www.proparco.fr