Among the oldest references known to the use of credit or loans in urban cities was Sumer, an ancient civilisation in Mesopotamia (3,500 B.C.). It was farming alone that prompted a method for receiving goods on the promise of future payment. Long since then, today access to credit for agriculture faces many challenges, although the importance of food is not in doubt.
In the African continent, while the agriculture sector is employing about 43.8% of the population, only approximately 1% of bank lending goes to the agricultural sector. And food goes a long way to our plates from production to sales, creating environmental impacts that account for over a quarter (26%) of global greenhouse gas emissions, to give one example.