This study examines the financing landscape for smallholder farmers and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), often referred to as the “missing middle”, and last-mile borrowers within Africa’s coffee value chain, with the specific objective of identifying pathways to enhance their access to commercial lending. Through a mixed-methods approach combining an extensive desk review with primary data from 101 key informant interviews across five African countries, the research diagnoses barriers to accessing financing for these groups and identifies context-specific innovations to address them.

The results reveal that just a quarter of farmers’ credit needs is currently met by both formal and informal institutions, with commercial banks contributing only 7% of formal credit. Key barriers, validated through interviews, include prohibitively high interest rates (10–30%), rigid collateral requirements that disproportionately exclude women and youth, and a fundamental mismatch between loan terms and coffee production cycles. Emerging financial innovations, such as alternative credit scoring using non-traditional data, risk-sharing guarantee schemes, and digital lending platforms, present promising pathways to de-risk agricultural lending.

The study concludes that transitioning to sustainable commercial finance requires coffee-specific financial products, supported by policy reforms to recognize movable collateral, strategic public–private partnerships, and integrated capacity building for both farmers and financial institutions. Implementing these tailored solutions is crucial for building more resilient, productive, and inclusive coffee value chains across the continent.