Rethinking Development Finance: Caritas Switzerland Partners with The Canopy Lab

Caritas Switzerland and The Canopy Lab have formalized a new strategic partnership through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed at the 2026 Market Systems Development (MSD) Symposium in Cape Town. The partnership marks an important step in both organisations' shared ambition to address poverty by tackling its underlying economic causes and connecting underserved communities with sustainable economic opportunities.

For decades, Caritas Switzerland has worked alongside communities, local organisations, businesses and public institutions to improve livelihoods and strengthen resilience. With humanitarian and development programmes in more than 15 countries, the organisation brings extensive field experience, trusted local relationships and a strong commitment to approaches that create lasting change.

Central to this work is MSD: an approach that seeks to improve how markets function so that people living in poverty can access better jobs, services and economic opportunities. Rather than relying exclusively on short-term assistance, MSD addresses the barriers that prevent local economies from becoming more inclusive, resilient and sustainable.

The Canopy Lab brings complementary expertise in systems thinking, private sector development, inclusive finance and impact investing. Its work focuses on designing practical solutions that connect economic opportunities with social and environmental impact, including ways to make financing more accessible to businesses and communities that conventional financial institutions often overlook.

By bringing these strengths together, the partnership aims to connect Caritas Switzerland's on-the-ground knowledge and extensive geographical presence with The Canopy Lab's innovative approaches to finance and systemic change.

Moving beyond traditional development funding

As development challenges become increasingly complex and traditional funding comes under pressure, finding new ways to finance lasting change is more important than ever.

Many promising small businesses, farmers and local enterprises struggle to obtain the capital they need to grow. At the same time, investors and financial institutions often consider these markets too risky or insufficiently profitable.

Caritas Switzerland and The Canopy Lab aim to help bridge this gap.

Their collaboration will explore approaches such as impact investing, blended finance and partnerships with financial institutions and businesses. In practical terms, this means finding ways to combine development funding with other sources of capital, reduce investment barriers and support business models that can continue creating value long after individual projects have ended.

The partnership will also strengthen the exchange of expertise between the two organisations, support the development of new programmes and help identify opportunities to bring additional investment into underserved markets.

The shared objective is not simply to mobilise more money, but to ensure that financing contributes to meaningful improvements in people's lives.

From partnership to practice: NUTR-INVEST in Ethiopia

The potential of this collaboration is already visible in NUTR-INVEST: Nutrition-sensitive Investments for Ethiopia, a recent project-development effort involving Caritas Switzerland and The Canopy Lab.

The initiative focuses on Ethiopia’s Oromia and Tigray regions, alongside Addis Ababa, where limited access to suitable financing constrains the ability of farmers, cooperatives and food businesses to produce and distribute affordable, nutritious food. Implementation is designed to expand progressively, taking account of local conditions and security.

NUTR-INVEST proposes an ambitious financing model, aiming to mobilise at least EUR 1.5 million in patient investment capital for nutrition-sensitive agri-food enterprises, facilitate approximately EUR 1.22 million in agricultural lending, and establish approximately EUR 120,000 in school nutrition grants. These planned financial flows would support the growth of local food businesses, strengthen farmers’ and cooperatives’ access to finance, and help schools improve the availability of nutritious meals.

Working with partners including IMPACC and the Cooperative Bank of Oromia, the initiative combines private investment, bank lending and results-based financing. The Canopy Lab contributed specialised expertise to the proposal’s design, particularly in developing innovative financing mechanisms that link investment with measurable nutrition and livelihood outcomes.

The initiative illustrates how development organisations, financial institutions and private-sector specialists can work together to address interconnected challenges. By strengthening the businesses and financial systems that make nutritious food available and affordable, NUTR-INVEST aims to create improvements that can be sustained and expanded over time.

A shared commitment to lasting change

The signing of the partnership at the MSD Symposium in Cape Town reflects a broader shift in international development: a growing recognition that tackling poverty requires collaboration across traditional institutional and sectoral boundaries.

Caritas Switzerland and The Canopy Lab share the conviction that lasting development depends on more than individual projects. It requires stronger local institutions, functioning and inclusive markets, meaningful private-sector participation and financing models that respond to the needs of communities.

Through this new partnership, the organisations intend to turn that shared vision into practical action—bringing together local experience, systemic thinking and financial innovation to create economic opportunities that last.

Partner with us to create lasting impact

Transforming local economies and expanding financial opportunities for underserved communities requires collaboration.

Caritas Switzerland and The Canopy Lab welcome dialogue with financial institutions, impact investors, foundations, businesses and development partners interested in exploring innovative ways to finance sustainable development.

Whether through co-investment opportunities, inclusive financial products, partnerships with local enterprises or new approaches to financing climate-resilient livelihoods and food systems, we are keen to connect with organisations that share our commitment to lasting, locally driven change.

Interested in exploring a partnership? Contact Caritas Switzerland's Private Sector Engagement team to discuss opportunities for collaboration.

More information

• News

• Caritas Market Systems Development

Header image: Formalized a new strategic partnership (from left): Maciej Chmielewski from Caritas Switzerland with Kelly Roberts-Robbins and Tim Sparkman from The Canopy Lab. © Caritas Switzerland