Financing of Organic Production in the Context of Impact Investing

Abstract

The article considers and justifies the approach to the financing of organic production as a component of the concept of impact-investing. The essence, features and tools of impact-investment are considered. Impact-investing differences from social investment, socially responsible investment and social entrepreneurship are considered. It is proved that Impact Investment is the newest financial strategy for social development, provides for investments in business projects that initially focused on profit and positive changes in society or the environment It is noted that scientific consideration of impact investing has not yet been given due attention in Ukraine. The subject of research is at the intersection of financial technology, social entrepreneurship and organic agro-production. Impact investing is considered a separate case of social investing with more clearly defined boundaries. Examples of social enterprises both in agriculture and in the restaurant business and in manufacturing are known in Ukraine. Because social entrepreneurship is a business, it has all the rules of the business: niche search, market research, competition, investment, and more. Impact investments help measure the external effects of doing business. With the introduction of the investment impact criterion, it becomes possible to determine what this business impact is, how to measure, study and understand it. It is emphasized that Impact investing is only beginning to develop in Ukraine. Over the past few years, examples of such investments have emerged in Kyiv, Lviv, Odessa, Ivano-Frankivsk and other cities. Most of them have started their business through local businesses and have relatively small initial investments by global standards. The opinion is grounded that investment in the development of organic production can be considered as a form of impact investment. It is concluded that, given the great social importance of the development of organic production, as well as the positive effects that organic agricultural production can potentially have on the development of rural areas, the use of financial resources of agricultural holdings may be promising. It was proposed to provide a differentiated approach to the collection of a fixed agricultural tax (FAS), taking into account the availability of investments in organic agricultural production, which would have prompted agricultural holdings to include organic production units in their structure. Investments in the development of organic agricultural production, which are proposed to be considered as impact investments, would allow domestic agro-holdings to a certain extent “rehabilitate”, improve their image, give their debt to society, and contribute to the development of rural areas.