AATIF provides funding towards improving organic food production in West Africa

On 15th December 2022, AATIF financed the first trade under the USD/EUR 1.5m senior secured trade finance facility with Vantage Netherlands B.V. to facilitate the storage, packaging, and exportation of organic produce from smallholders from Africa continent.

Vantage India is an experienced supplier of certified organic ingredients to importers, manufacturers, and distributors all over the globe. Starting off as a trader of organic soybeans out of India, over the years, the company developed into an integrated agribusiness with medium crushing capacity, sourcing soybeans locally from organically certified smallholder farmers in India.

Following an increase in demand and to diversify sources, the company invested heavily in Africa since 2014 by developing relationships with smallholders in Benin, Nigeria, and Tanzania. Vantage as a group has developed sourcing and processing operations in these African countries working directly with smallholders in the value chain.

To this end, AATIF’s loan with a tenor of two years will be used to purchase organic soybeans, and organic sunflower seeds from local producers in these three countries for storage, packaging and exporting around the globe.

Speaking on the latest addition to our investment portfolio, Ms Doris Köhn – Chair of the AATIF Board of Directors said:

“AATIF’s investment with Vantage represents an exciting opportunity to help bolster organic production in Eastern & Western Africa. By working with smallholder farmers in Nigeria, Benin, and Tanzania, Vantage’s outreach illustrates the kind of deliberate and meaningful impact we are proud to be a part of.”

Vipul Gupta, Founder, Vantage Group, also commented on the deal:

“The AATIF partnership validates our investments into the region and helps us scale up our business significantly. The partnership further gives us access to tools that can aid in improving our systems and processes to engage more efficiently with the local producers."

About Vantage Group

Vantage has established itself as one of the largest and most reliable organic food and feed ingredients brands globally. And in doing so, we have empowered farmer communities economically by helping them scale or market their high-quality products.

In 2008, Vantage Organic started with a humble beginning yet with a high hope to offer quality organic products globally. Soon we realized the immense potential of organic farming to create not only a sustainable environment but also support the livelihoods of thousands of farmers globally.

More information and contact details can be found on https://vantageorganicfoods.com/about-us

The Africa Agriculture and Trade Investment Fund (AATIF)


The Africa Agriculture and Trade Investment Fund is a public-private partnership dedicated to promoting the food / agri sector across Africa by providing patient capital and technical assistance. The fund provides debt financing to small, medium, and large-scale agribusinesses along the entire agriculture value chain, as well as financial institutions active in the sector. DWS is acting as investment advisor to AATIF. More information and contact details can be found on www.aatif.lu