Afraca Secretariat

The African Rural and Agricultural Credit Association is a regional association of financial and non financial institutions involved in promoting rural and agricultural finance in Africa. AFRACA was established in 1977 alongside similar institutions across the globe as a lead advocate and coordinator of rural and agricultural finance in their respective regions. The AFRACA secretariat is based in Nairobi, Kenya where it was registered under the NGOs Coordination Act in 1981 and received diplomatic status in 2003. The concept of Regional Agricultural Credit Associations (RACAs) finds its origin in the FAO sponsored Regional Seminar on Agricultural Credit for Small-holder farmers held in Accra, Ghana in 1973. Subsequently, the World Food Conference on credit for small-holder farmers in developing countries held in Rome in 1975 recommended that FAO should assist its member countries to establish such associations in different parts of the world. This resulted in the founding of three regional credit associations: African Regional Credit Association (AFRACA), Near East, North Africa Agricultural Credit Association (NENARACA) and the Asia Pacific Rural and Agricultural Credit Association (APRACA) and later a similar Association (ALIDE) was established for the Latin America Region. Specifically, the African Rural and Agricultural Credit Association (AFRACA), a member based Organization was established in 1977. The Association was initially based in Accra Ghana but relocated to Kenya where it was registered under the NGOs Coordination act in 1981. Since then, AFRACA secretariat has been in Nairobi. In 2003, AFRACA received a diplomatic status from the Kenyan government. AFRACA’s governance, objectives and functions are embedded in its constitution.