One third of AccessBank's micro-business loans are extended to farmers. The portfolio of this segment has grown quickly and performed well. Why is Access-Bank Azerbaijan successful in agricultural lending, a sector often disliked by other commercial banks? And why is the bank viewing farmers as a strategic core clientele? This case study aims to give some answers and explore some of the myths around agricultural lending. 1 Greenfield Small Business Bank in a Transitional Economy AccessBank was founded in 2002 by international development finance institutions together with a technical partner. 3 It was created to provide a broad range of financial services for micro and small enterprises, and low and middle-income households, sectors that were largely ignored by Azerbaijan's banking sector at the start of the decade. In the intervening years, the bank has grown rapidly into the leading microfinance provider in Azerbaijan, both in terms of numbers of credit and deposit customers, and in terms of credit volume, as well as in terms of range and quality of banking services. At the same time, AccessBank has also developed into one of the leading banks in the country: As of

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