For the agro-ecological transition in Nouvelle-Aquitaine

Monday, 14 October 2019

Banque Populaire Aquitaine Centre Atlantique is a partner of Alter’NA, a guarantee fund set up to support the agro-ecological transition of companies in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region.

Alter’NA – a €36 million guarantee fund managed by the European Investment Fund, to which the European Union and the Region have each contributed €15 million in addition to the €6 million from the so-called Juncker plan – should be generating approximately €230 million in loans over a period of three years. This financing will be distributed by Banque Populaire Aquitaine Centre Atlantique, Crédit Mutuel, and Crédit Agricole to farmers and winegrowers in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region along with agricultural groups and agri-food companies for environmental and climate transition projects aimed at changing current practices. The fund will provide access to financing with a free guarantee.
 
This fund mirrors the FOSTER program already used by Banque Populaire du Sud and Banque Populaire Occitane in the Occitania region, which has already made it possible to support hundreds of farmers in their investments. 

In addition to supporting the agro-ecological transition, this fund is part of an approach to enhance the value of agriculture and to support sustainable agriculture for both farmers and consumers. The investments encouraged could be, for example, measures taken to upgrade to High Environmental Value standards, the development of short distribution circuits, and the processing of organic agricultural products.

Nouvelle-Aquitaine is the largest agricultural region in France and Europe.  The region’s useful agricultural area covers a total of 4.2 million hectares (15% of the French UAA) with forests representing 2.8 million hectares; agricultural turnover is equal to 10.5 billion euros (No.1 in France, representing 15% of the national turnover; source: Nouvelle-Aquitaine Chamber of Agriculture).