MCF Foundation

The Livelihoods Fund for Family Farming (L3F) Mission:

Secure the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and the sustainable sourcing of pioneering brands thanks to timely investment into regenerative agriculture practices, the empowerment of a new generation of farmers and the restoration of key natural resources. L3F provides an innovative impact investment vehicle committed to design, implement & monitor projects with long-term economic, social & environmental value creation for all.

The fund’s impacts:

400 000
people to be positively impacted

150 000
hectares preserved

60 000
farms to be converted to sustainable land practices

85
million euros to be invested over 10 years in Africa, Asia & Latin America

What Is The Livelihoods Fund For Family Farming?

Born out of the conviction that environmental degradation, climate change, and rural poverty are interlinked, the Livelihoods Fund For Family Farming (L3F) provides a new approach to transform in design and investment companies’ agricultural supply chains while improving the lives of vulnerable smallholder farmers, in order to address all these issues simultaneously. It has an investment target of 85 million euros over 10 years.

The Livelihoods Fund for Family Farming was launched in 2015 with Danone, Mars and later joined by Firmenich and Veolia for developing projects in their supply chain and areas of influence.

Born out of the conviction that environmental degradation, climate change, and rural poverty are interlinked, the Livelihoods Fund For Family Farming (L3F) provides a new approach to transform in design and investment companies’ agricultural supply chains while improving the lives of vulnerable smallholder farmers, in order to address all these issues simultaneously. It has an investment target of 85 million euros over 10 years.

The Livelihoods Fund for Family Farming was launched in 2015 with Danone, Mars and later joined by Firmenich and Veolia for developing projects in their supply chain and areas of influence.

How does it work?

    1. Committed to transform their supply chains, brands need to carry out the sustainable sourcing of complex commodities. They mandate Livelihoods Venture, exclusive investment fund advisor to L3F to design, structure and implement the fund’s partner brands’ sourcing projects. Livelihoods Venture plays a key role in building and coordinating a coalition of partners committed to the project (businesses, the public sector and civil society).
    2. L3F provides upfront financing to project implementers (often grassroots NGOs) that deploy large-scale sustainable agriculture projects featuring a landscape approach with rural farming communities.
    3. The smallholder farmers involved in the project are provided with training, equipment and technical assistance to implement it, with the support of Livelihoods and its partners.
    4. The project generates tangible social, economic, and environmental benefits for the smallholder farmers involved:
      • increased and diversified incomes,
      • enhanced farm viability,
      • improved livelihoods,
      • improved working conditions
      • job creation for youth and women
      • stable market connections
      • qualitative and traceable supply chains.
    5. Financial return for the fund is provided by private and public off-takers that pay fees to benefit from the public goods and externalities generated by the project.

The Fund’s Model:

Meet L3F Partners:

committed for regenerative agricultural models with long term benefits for all

Farmers and their communities

Farmers and their communities receive market visibility, free training, support, and equipment to implement sustainable agricultural practices that increase their productivity and incomes and improve their livelihoods. Conditional incentives based on farm performance are set up in case of farm rejuvenation (replanting loans) enabled by project partners.

Project implementers (NGOs, large farmers’ cooperatives, etc.) gain access to funding and technical support to upscale their initiatives. They are also assisted by Livelihoods Venture in their capacity building.

Companies and private investors can access sustainable sourcing projects that help them reach their Sustainable Development Goals. They participate in the fund as both investors and project off-takers.

The public sector (governments, institutions, etc.) benefit from a strong coalition of private and NGOs partners through Livelihoods 3F to mitigate climate change, reduce rural poverty, and improve food security through sustainable integrated landscape approaches.