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Symbiotics, the leading market access platform for impact investing, has arranged with Samunnati Financial Intermediation & Services Private Limited (“Samunnati”) its first Green Bond whereby the proceeds of USD 4.6 million in local currency equivalent are fully allocated towards climate smart agriculture.

Since its inception in 2014, Samunnati’s mission has been to support smallholder farmers by removing inefficiencies in the agricultural value chain. Samunnati provides short-term loans to farmer producer organisations, community business organisations and agri-enterprises.

With the issuance of this Green Bond Samunnati has committed itself towards the promotion of climate smart agricultural practices by its loan borrowers. Both green and social practices are cemented within the heart of the company displayed by its staff, as well as policies and frameworks.

“This Green Bond issuance with Samunnati underlines its commitment to sustainable agricultural practices. – Its deep understanding of the sector allowed us to earmark the proceeds of this bond to very specific projects under the agriculture, forestry and land use category.”, said Daniel Schriber, Head of Investments at Symbiotics.

Anilkumar SG, Founder and CEO at Samunnati said: “Samunnati is working with FPOs on the supply side and Agri Enterprises on the demand side across 22 states in India. We are delighted to partner with Symbiotics on our first Green Bond.This will help us further offer customized financial solutions to entities interested in adopting climate smart and green solutions, using social and trade capital, to FPOs and SMEs, enabling the agri value chain to operate at a higher equilibrium. The Green Bond will enable Samunnati to strengthen the climate resilience across agri-sector, including that of small and marginal farmers in India.”

Samunnati’s green loans follow Climate Bond Initiative categorization, in accordance with the Green Bond Principles of Climate-Smart Agriculture. The loans are classified under three type of activities: (i) food security, (ii) climate resilience and (iii) green house gas management.

The following SDGs are promoted with this Green Bond:

This bond is issued via Symbiotics sponsored bond issuance platform (Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises Bonds S.A.) under its Sustainability, Social and Green Bond Framework, which was certified in December 2019 by DNV GL. The Green Bond will be listed on the Luxembourg Green Exchange within the Green Bond section. The proceeds are to be fully used towards a 3-year tenor, senior, local currency loan facility to Samunnati.

About Symbiotics

Symbiotics is the leading market access platform for impact investing, dedicated to financing micro- small and medium enterprises and low- and middle-income households in emerging and frontier markets. Since 2005, Symbiotics has structured and originated some 4,000 deals for over 490 companies in almost 90 emerging and frontier markets representing more than USD 6.5 billion. These investments have been purchased by more than 25 fund mandates and more than 50 third party specialized fund managers, forming a growing ecosystem and marketplace for such transactions. symbioticsgroup.com

 About Samunnati
Samunnati is a specialized Agri Value Chain enabler that offers customized financial, co-financial and non-financial solutions to farmer producer organizations and agri-enterprises across the value chain. Since its inception in 2014, Samunnati has focused on its mission ‘to make market work for the small holder farmers’ by making the value chains operate at a higher equilibrium. Globally, there has been increasing focus on improving climate resilience across agricultural production and distribution systems. India is considered one of the most venerable geographies to Climate Change, and could immensely benefit from promotion of sustainable practices in the agri-ecosystem. By raising this Green Bond, Samunnati becomes one of the first NBFCs in India to raise debt specifically focused upon sustainability in agriculture, forestry and land-use for small and marginal farmers within agri value chains. The proceeds of the Green Bond will be used for supporting adoption of such sustainable used to finance Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) as well as Agri-Enterprises adopting and promoting Climate Smart and Climate Resilient Practices in India’s agri-space. samunnati.com