Global press audience for CASA report heading for 1 million estimated views

June 22, 2022

A CASA report highlighting a $106 billion funding gap faced by small and medium-sized agriculture businesses (SMEs) in Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, has received global press coverage with readership estimated at over 975,000.

Coverage was featured on over 20 digital news platforms including SciDev.net, The Nation (Nigeria) The East African (Kenya), News Ghana, Far Eastern Agriculture, AgFunder News and Agrilinks.

Alvaro Valverde, Private Sector Engagement Officer (CABI) and & Engagement, Learning & Communication Lead (CASA) said: “The scale of the media coverage of the CASA state of the sector report, particularly in the African and South-Asian press, highlights that its findings and recommendations have been reaching audiences where the impacts of the funding gap are most keenly felt, and where the change priorities mentioned in the report can make a discernible impact if implemented.

The East African, a prominent paper based in Nairobi, Kenya, highlighted the failure of financing bodies to respond to the emerging needs brought on by climate change.

The Nation, a popular daily newspaper based in Lagos, Nigeria, noted that significant investment was needed to build resilient supply chains with adaptation to climate change, and that there was only a negligible capital flow towards agri-SMEs.

Valverde concluded: “CASA is ready to work with our partners, and other stakeholders, to encourage good use of subsidies, spur existing local financial institutions, and increase the availability of climate finance for the investor pipeline”.

The total estimated views were calculated using the reporting tool CoverageBook, which considers the article placement, size and influence of the site and how many shares the clip has received on social networks.


Further information

Access the full report, here

View the 1-page summary of the report, which includes the key conclusions and recommendations, here

Watch the video digest of a workshop hosted by SAFIN and CASA on the report, here


Cover photo credit: Dominic Chavez/World Bank (CC BY 2.0)