Cold Chain Financing Workshop at FINAS 2026: Evidence, Barriers, and Breakthrough Commitments

Over 80 stakeholders gathered at FINAS 2026 for NFP and DanChurchAid's workshop on financing cold chain infrastructure. The session centered on a critical gap: solutions that work financially but remain inaccessible to most farmers.

The Evidence

DanChurchAid's Value2Loss pilot in Nakuru and Nyandarua counties demonstrated strong potential for scaling. Farmers using pay as you go cold storage facilities reduced post harvest losses by more than 30%. Participating farmers reported revenue increases of over 17%. Revenue generated from user fees has proven sufficient to meet operational costs and service loans, demonstrating the commercial viability of the model.

Yet the assessment revealed that access to finance remains a significant barrier. Financial institutions have generally been reluctant to finance cold chain infrastructure due to the specialized nature of the assets and the perceived difficulty of recovering value in the event of loan default.

Key Barriers Identified

The panel discussion, featuring Pauline Kariuki (Orchard Juice Ltd), Peter Owaga (Truvalu), Tom Akeno (Agricultural Finance Corporation), Enid Muchiri (Danfoss), Dennis Karema (SokoFresh Ltd), and Fabrizio (UNCDF), identified several structural and operational barriers:

High cost of cold chain infrastructure. Limited access to affordable financing. Inadequate farmer organization. Shortages of specialized technical skills. Unreliable power supply. Collectively, these constraints continue to limit access to cold chain services, particularly for smallholder farmers and SMEs.

Low production volumes at the farm level make cold storage investments commercially challenging. The fragmented nature of production means many farmers cannot individually generate sufficient volumes to justify dedicated cold storage facilities. As a result, aggregators frequently rely on outsourced cold storage services.

Concrete Commitments

UNCDF is currently investing EUR 26 million to strengthen cold chain financing. As part of this initiative, UNCDF is designing guarantee mechanisms aimed at unlocking commercial lending and is already engaging with two financial institutions to operationalize these facilities.

ACTS, together with its partners, is launching a new cold chain initiative funded by the Danish Government. The programme will work closely with financial institutions to improve access to finance and promote investment in cold chain infrastructure.

The Coordination Challenge

Participants emphasized a strong need for improved coordination among stakeholders across the cold chain ecosystem. Sustained collaboration between government, development partners, financial institutions, technology providers, and the private sector was identified as essential to unlock investment at scale.

Private financial institutions remain reluctant to finance cold chain infrastructure due to perceived investment risks. The panel called for innovative financing mechanisms, incentives, and risk sharing instruments that can facilitate greater capital flows into the sector.

Technology providers, SMEs, aggregators, and other private sector actors have an important role to play in catalyzing investment by demonstrating commercially viable business models and supporting market development.

Community of Practice Interest

Participants expressed strong interest in establishing a Community of Practice on Cold Chain Financing. The Cool Move initiative was welcomed as a promising platform to foster knowledge sharing, collaboration, and coordinated action across the sector.

Audience Reflections

Participants noted that access to cold chain infrastructure could significantly empower young entrepreneurs, who often lack the collateral required to invest in such facilities independently. By providing shared or accessible infrastructure, these barriers can be reduced.

The role of off takers was emphasized, as they help stabilize markets and reduce risks for farmers. Engaging off takers in cold chain development ensures that storage solutions are aligned with market demand.

Importantly, participants highlighted that cold storage should not be viewed as an end in itself, but as a tool to catalyze broader market development. This includes improving value addition, reducing losses, and strengthening supply chains.

There was a strong call for collaboration across all food system actors, recognizing that sustainable solutions require coordinated efforts from development partners, investors, SMEs, and government institutions.

The Path Forward

The event concluded with an active networking session, during which participants explored potential collaborations and several organizations agreed to pursue follow up discussions and partnership opportunities aimed at advancing cold chain investment and sustainable food systems in Kenya.