In 2013, a total of EUR 24.9 million (including the contribution of EUR 8.5 million from local
Rabobanks) was awarded to 186 projects in the Netherlands and abroad. In the Netherlands,
21 projects received donations totalling EUR 2.5 million. Rabobank Foundation helped to fund
165 projects outside the Netherlands by providing microfinance, donations, advisory services,
trade finance and guarantees for a total of EUR 22.4 million, to savings and loan cooperatives
and farmer/producer organisations in 27 developing countries.
Impact investing
Increasing numbers of investors are seeking not just financial returns but quantifiable social
returns as well. Rabobank offers a range of investment products for institutional customers with
impact goals, aimed at agriculture and food, clean technology and sustainable development of
small farmers. Investment products for private individuals and private banking customers at
Rabobank meet the criteria for socially responsible investment. Examples of entities offering
impact products within Rabobank are Rabo Farm, Dutch Greentech Fund, the Rabo Rural Fund
and the Inclusive Business Fund.
Rabo Farm is an investment manager that develops funds for institutional investors seeking to
invest in farmland and farms (agriculture). In view of the world's rapidly growing global population
and the challenges posed by the shrinking acreage of suitable farmland, increasing scarcity of
water and mineral resources, decreasing biodiversity and many years of underinvestment in
agriculture, intelligent solutions are required to continue to feed the world's population in the
future as well. Through its various funds, Rabo Farm invests in countries were farmland is not
producing as much as it potentially could. Doing more with less is the goal. The present fund,
the Rabo Farm Europe Fund I, totalling EUR 315 million, focuses on Central and Eastern Europe
and has built up a portfolio of farms and farmland in Poland and Romania. Part of the investment
budget available is used to work with farmers on the modernisation of the farms and land
improvement to make these more productive and efficient in a sustainable manner. In addition
to solid financial returns, these investments contribute to strengthening the local and the
global food security.
The Dutch Greentech Fund (DGF) is a venture capital fund that invests in ambitious businesses
with pioneering innovations that contribute to greening within the food agri, bio-based and
cleantech sectors. DGF is an alliance between Rabobank, Delft University ofTechnology,
Wageningen UR and WWF. The fund invests up to EUR 2.5 million per company in the form of
venture capital. Examples of businesses in which DGF has invested are: Meatless, a company
producing plant fibres that are used in vegetarian and mixed-meat products, and Ampyx Power,
which has developed an innovative 'Airborne Wind Energy'technology. Protix Biosystems and
Waste2Chemical are examples of investments by DGF in a circular economy. More information
is available on www.dutchareentechfund.nl.
Rabo Rural Fund provides access to financing for farmers'cooperatives and small and medium-
sized enterprises in developing countries, with the aim of increasing the prosperity of small
producers. Its main tool is trade finance for exports of products including coffee, cocoa, cotton,
nuts, peppers and sugars. Rabo Rural Fund awarded funding and guarantees to 27 projects for a
total of EUR 10.5 million in 2013. Cordaid is a co-investor in the Rabo Rural Fund.
At the end of 2013 a new fund was established to match up impact investors and socially
responsible businesses in developing countries and emerging markets. Rabobank Foundation
works with ICCO and the BoP Innovation Center in the Inclusive Business Fund.The intention is
get more parties on board to increase the fund's financial resources. No financing was provided
yet from this fund in 2013.
Sustainability
