(KARLSRUHE, GERMANY) – The Agricultural Finance Corporation (AFC) has received the 2026 Karlsruhe Sustainable Finance Award at the Global Sustainable Finance Conference in Germany, recognising its work to embed climate resilience into development finance.
The award makes AFC the first Kenyan institution to attain certification under the Sustainability Standards and Certification Initiative. It recognised the lender’s efforts to integrate sustainability into its corporate strategy, governance and lending decisions.
The recognition comes at a time when climate risk is becoming an increasingly important consideration for agricultural financing in Kenya. Agriculture remains highly exposed to drought, floods and changing rainfall patterns, yet the sector accounts for about one fifth of Kenya’s economic output. The World Bank estimates that 98% of Kenya’s agriculture is rain fed, leaving farmers particularly vulnerable to weather shocks.
AFC said it has embedded climate risk considerations into its operations and financing decisions while serving 213,740 active borrowers through an agricultural financing portfolio of about KES 13 billion. The portfolio amounts to approximately $101 million / £80 million / €91 million at current exchange rates.
One of its most visible interventions is the mandatory Environmental and Social Management System screening of loan applications. The Corporation has also introduced a requirement for borrowers to plant one tree for every KES 10,000 advanced. The initiative has contributed to more than one million trees being planted by AFC, its customers and communities across all 47 branches during the 2024/25 and 2025/26 financial years. The KES 10,000 threshold equals about $78 / £61 / €70.
AFC has also directed financing towards areas where climate shocks pose the greatest threat to livelihoods. Another intervention is climate resilient irrigation financing at the Ahero Irrigation Scheme. Working with the National Irrigation Authority, AFC used a $77,370 (KES 10 million) credit guarantee to mobilise KES 161.8 million, representing a leverage ratio of more than 16 times. The mobilised amount equals about $1.25 million / £990,000 / €1.14 million.
The World Bank warns that climate inaction could reduce Kenya’s real GDP by as much as 7.25% by 2050 under some scenarios.
AFC Managing Director George Kubai said the recognition reinforces the Corporation’s role in steering Kenyan agriculture towards greater climate resilience and sustainability.