Farming has always been a tricky business. From the vagaries of nature to fluctuating crop prices, from the high cost of transportation to lack of credit, making a living as a farmer is not for the faint hearted. In the 1800s, the financial needs of farmers were not being met by the large, urban financial institutions of that time.

Friedrich Raiffeisen, a rural German mayor, came up with a system to collect the savings of farmers and use them to provide a sound financial base for credit, creating the Raiffeisen Cooperative Bank. This form of collective self-help took off in the Netherlands as well, where the Cooperative Central Boerenleenbank was established. In 1972 the two merged into one central cooperative named Rabobank.