Explore Official Dialogue Feedback

Participants in this Independent Dialogue brought to bear a wide variety of perspectives from small scale farming to advanced sciences to veterinary medicine to environmental activism, but the Dialogue revealed broad consensus that the FSS must focus on practical, broad-based, action-oriented solutions backed by science, innovation, and proven impact - solutions that include producers of all sizes and types and at many points in their journey for continuous improvement and more sustainable systems. The FSS will impact farmers and ranchers the most of all stakeholders, and participants were con... Read morecerned that some proposed approaches within the FSS currently do not adequately reflect producers’ realities, acknowledge their achievements, or recognize that conventional agriculture must shoulder the majority of work needed to achieve more sustainable food systems. Therefore, greater work is needed to appropriately frame the challenges, understand the landscape and horizon, and develop solutions for meaningful and lasting change. Participants identified key terms and concepts as not yet having appropriate, flexible approaches within the FSS - including sustainable, healthy, and nutrient-dense. As discussed in the Dialogue, sustainability is a journey, not a single or universal destination. Healthy diets are diverse, balanced, take into account nutrient density and are not based on denigrating specific nutrients, foods, and product categories. Participants also emphasized the importance of strengthening awareness of producers’ contributions and incentives for further achievements, educating consumers about the food system, and fast-tracking proven policies and innovations including by taking lessons learned into developing countries. While participants agreed that more needs to be done to provide consumers with accurate, balanced information about sustainable food systems, there was some disagreement about who is responsible for leading that charge and what level of responsibility food brands and retailers have in communicating information about animal agriculture to consumers. The animal agriculture community will need to work to become more unified in its efforts to communicate about sustainability in order to be more effective in ensuring public understanding. Read less

GrowHer.org is a microsite that provides women agripreneurs the platform to upskill themselves with useful tools and new skills, read inspiring stories of other women in agriculture making their mark, and to collaborate and attend events across the value chain - creating sustainable food systems for generations to come. Major focus of the discussion was: Important roles and contribution of women in the food systems. On 31st of March 2021, aligned with the celebration of International Women’s Month, GrowHer.org launched in the Philippines. The launch was remarkable as it was the first in-coun... Read moretry launch of the platform. The program became an avenue for collaboration among civil society groups, government agencies, and the private sector in supporting the GrowHer microsite through contributing content, sharing resources, and partnership opportunities for women in agriculture. The launch also aired and released a Manifesto Video, recognizing the important roles that women play in the food and agri-ecosystem. The launch was led by AGREA, Corteva Agriscience, and Grow Asia. It was supported by the Netherlands Embassy in the Philippines – a major supporter of agriculture and gender equity initiatives, SPARK Philippines, and UNFSS Dialogues. The launch complemented our 2020 program entitled How Women Feed The World: A Digital Talk on Women in Agriculture. The said webinar complemented the conclusions of Roundtable on Gender Equity and Empowerment last 2019, and support for Magna Carta of Women in Agriculture. It also presented current opportunities and investment for women in agriculture on the following key areas: education, sustainable livelihood, peace and security, and health and nutrition. Read less

II. Main Findings The launch on GrowHer March 31st, 2021 – was a fruitful discussion and call to action and partnerships. Major focus of the discussion was: Important roles and contribution of women in the food systems. Here are the major findings of the discussion: A. Current status of women in the food systems • Globally, less than 2 in 10 landowners are women. Women farmers in the Philippines make financial decisions with their husbands. Women farmers in the country have more control managing household expenses and are among the most empowered in Southeast Asia (according to a study pub... Read morelished in the Scientific Journal Food Policy in 2017). • In food and nutrition globally, more than 50% of workers (in agriculture) are women. But women have less rights, less income, less access, and not valued. FAO, WFP, and IFAD have looked at it and have researched that if women would have access to all tools in agriculture and food production along the whole food value chain, they would be able to produce better until 10%. And with ‘better’, it means good quality of food. It is concluded that if women have equal access to public, legal, and financial services, hunger and malnutrition could be down by 25%. • World Food Programme (WFP) estimated that at the end of last year (2020), there could be some 130 million people who are hungry. It is a huge challenge on how we can help women that are working in the fields, and are working on rural environments to have enough income, to have enough food to feed their families, and to nourish them. • In 2018, Corteva Agriscience commissioned a global study of more than 4000 women in agriculture to really understand their pain points and their key challenges, and to look into gender inequality. It was across 17 countries, 24% in Asia Pacific. It was found out that universally, women love being in farming and agriculture, but at the same time the challenge of gender inequality is still a prevalent challenge for them. Whether that’s the income disparity, the land ownership issues, or access to training, finance, and other resources. • Filipina agricultural workers are also the most overworked, compared to their South Asian peers. The Filipina farmers juggle the most significant workload at home and at the farm. To cut it short, women farmers work more, but they are also paid less. • Barriers for women in agriculture include access to farm inputs, credit, market know-how, and land ownership – must be entirely eliminated, and create better and incentivizing farming conditions. • According to WFP, 97% of the money that families are receiving from the Social Amelioration Program of the Philippine Department of Social Welfare and Development, was being spent on food alone. B. CALL TO ACTION: What can be worked out to support Filipino women in their role and contribution to the food systems? • Exposing the inequalities is a first step towards remedy. Listening to the women in the communities, in the farms, in the grassroots about their stories and experiences. • Implement initiatives that fosters partnerships, brings together stakeholders from all sectors, and puts women at the center. • Increase efforts in breaking down the barriers that discourage women into agriculture. Barriers such as access to farm inputs, credit, market know-how, and land ownership – must be entirely eliminated, and create better and incentivizing farming conditions for the Filipinas. • Implement financial assistance program that can further narrow the gender disparity in agriculture, like the AgriPinay of the Agricultural Credit Policy Council (ACPC). • Providing women more resources, information on agriculture and business, as well as sharing inspiring stories about women farmers and entrepreneurs. • Multi-stakeholder collaboration for nutrition-sensitive agriculture: growing food that are nutritious. • Multi-stakeholder collaboration for social-behavioral change communication, and seek to understand ‘what is it that is a barrier for women having more nutritious food put on their households’? • Opportunity to link up SUN (Scaling Up Nutrition) Business Network to small and medium enterprises, especially those that are women-run: looking at where the value chain opportunities are for them. • COLLABORATION: It is about the power of SHE, and when women come together – they create the power of WE. If women come together, they start to talk about their experience and about their dreams. And many women dream about a better world for themselves, but most especially for the next generation. • Invest in good nutrition. It starts at home for all children, boys and girls alike – because that is where equality starts. • Inform and push our work towards promoting women’s economic empowerment. Read less

A. Best practices in creating and enabling opportunities for women in the food and agriculture sector: what works best, what were the challenges, and how to address these challenges? • The best way to know what the key challenges are for women in the food and agriculture system, is to talk to them. • Provide women-only training in some cases so they have access to customized training. • A lot of women felt that they do not have is recognition. Awareness on the important roles that women in the entire agriculture value chain - amplify the role they play, give them a voice, and make them m... Read moreore visible in discussions about the sustainability of our food systems. • Building a community of women in the agriculture and food system and empower them through role models. Have a support system of female entrepreneurs and food systems workers who support each other. • Increase the number of women in the food system workplace, especially in leadership roles. • Invest in women: when she wins, her family wins, her broader community wins, all of us wins. • Make sure the pay is reasonable, work hours are reasonable because you have to recognize that they are mothers, and condition of the workplace should be good. • Have a series of conversations with female farmers. They are parents, they nurture their children and guide them in choosing their career and consult with them. In exploring challenges with the parents, then together we will find practical solutions to these problems. B. How can you support the advancement of gender equality at the farm level, and network level? • Create partnerships and support linkages and help the projects in scaling up to support more women farmers. • Conduct knowledge exchange events, to help in exchange experiences and information with women farmers. • Collective effort. Identify the gaps, they identify common resources that the companies can work on, and collaborate in building, scaling, and leveraging on these resources to help farmers have access to market, financing, training, and capacity building. C. How collaboration is imperative to foster gender response in any sector, including agriculture? How can we grow more opportunities for women in the food and agriculture value chain? • Collaborate with different agencies – national, local, municipal, NGOs and the private sector. Successful projects cannot be implemented without collaborative effort. • Women farmers not as producers but also as processors. Open women to opportunities that can help them climb up the ladder of the value chain. • Organize women into groups with legal registrations, so that they can access and participate to other programs of the government and private institutions. D. Inputs and Suggestions for the Magna Carta of Women in Agriculture • Establish associations for female farmers at the local level. Coming together as a decision-making body empowers women, and at the same time they can contribute significantly to the well-being of the community. • Balance of quantity and quality in opportunities for women in agriculture. Put targets in the Magna Carta (ex: increasing the number of women in leadership roles). We also have to take into consideration the quality – how they are engaged, how do they benefit? How can women use and access the opportunities and platforms? Read less

There were no areas of divergence.

Discussion topic #3: Nature-positive strategies from producers of dairy and poultry, etc. COLLABORATIVE REGULATION. The strategy for nature-positive production should focus on innovation by farmers, as opposed to a prescriptive plan by others. Regulations are essential, but the practices and tactics are best devised at local levels by farmers who already are seeking and crafting solutions that fit their geography and climate. Different farms have different types of innovation, depending on the contexts. It could be running the farmhouse stove from a methane digester fed by only eight cows, or ... Read moreit could be an international conglomerate bearing the expense of methane pipelines from hog lagoons to a gas plant. Small farms can adapt some of the efficiencies from integrated operations with economies of scale. Yet there need to be goals and guardrails – a regulatory roadmap – to keep farmers and regulators on the same page, learning from each other, and working together. One farmer spoke of meetings between regulators and farmers at which each learned of the other’s challenges and reasoning, and found mutually beneficial ways to clean a bay. Sometimes, regulations from different agencies may seem to be in conflict. Such cases are ideal for different parties to collaborate and clear the air – literally and figuratively. OTHER COLLABORATION. Rented land and the need for longer leases are barriers to new practices and technologies. Hog or poultry aggregators have specific standards for buildings, equipment, and processes – which makes it costly or against rules for growers to innovate. In these cases, and in others, participants said players all along the value chain need to be part of efforts to adopt nature-positive practices. This can help smaller and independent farms to adopt efficiencies from integrated operations. A lot of waste-to-energy possibilities also may require collaboration. Perhaps cover crops that could be used along with animal waste to feed digesters; natural-gas companies could share the cost of pipelines from manure lagoons. Carbon sequestration and bio-char from forest waste are other possibilities. Strategies and technologies must be created in a way that allows them to be scaled down to meet the needs of smaller farmers. Participants noted a profound lack of understanding on the part of some investors and regulators about the challenges of operating a farm. One example cited was of an investor wanting a 100-year lease on land to fund some research. Some of the regulations on investment from large-scale credit needs to be revised. These illustrate the importance of farmers having a place at the table for discussions of the politics and finance of agriculture. Read less

Discussion topic #4: Nature-positive strategies from producers of beef and pork, etc. Beef cattle, pork, and row-crop farmers provided multiple examples of innovation on their farms. On swine operations, for example, composting is a significant investment but has huge impacts on the operation and there are cost share programs available. A challenge is making sure other producers are aware of those incentives and programs. In terms of the Food Systems Summit and nature-positive practices, farmers and others in the group want a clearer understanding of what the goal of the United Nations is. Pro... Read moreducers share the view that all forms of agriculture need continual improvement. But they worry about recommendations that might seek to do away with one type of agriculture or some common practices: “What is the true end goal, and what are they or we trying to achieve and why? Is it a full transformation or is it continual improvement? As producers, we need more context and want to be involved in the process of developing solutions.” Rather than being told what not to do, farmers want the research, support, and incentives to help them with continual improvement and new options. To build on that point, the group talked about what a full transformation of our food system could look like. Communication around sustainability is important because each person or region's definition might vary slightly, and practices look different across the globe. Our producers emphasized the importance of avoiding the one-size-fits-all approach. The food system is fragile, so transformation must be approached cautiously and include the voice of farmers. Beef producers, for example, have taken great strides in grazing management and taking advantage of new ways to utilize government cost programs. The swine industry has focused on implementing sustainability measures to mitigate methane and greenhouse gases. The pork industry over the last decade has been working on decreasing its environmental footprint – and has built partnerships up and down the value chain, making it easier to take on sustainability initiatives. Cost-share programs, both privately and publicly funded, are very important to these types of ventures. Read less

Discussion topic #5: Nature-positive strategies from producers of specialty crops. As in grains and livestock, specialty-crop farmers have for years been adopting nature-positive practices – though the change often has been as much for economic and environmental reasons (which underscores the argument that regenerative farming is not an economic burden). Among other improvements, producers have: re-used water from processing facilities to irrigate fields; diverted excess storm water in orchards to “recharge” basins; used “waste” such as nut shells as compost for organic melon product... Read moreion; used hedgerows and bee forage to keep pollinator populations healthy; invested in “whole orchard recycling” to put organic material back in the soil; and used sensors to put the right amount of water in the fields. THOUGH GROWERS MAY use hedgerows or cover crops to help pollinators, this may not be a sustainable practice in seasons when there are water shortages. They see continued need for research into bee disease – an environmental challenge with significant implications. Not all strategies work for all grower situations – that’s why there is a need for a “dynamic, robust toolbox” to accommodate different crop conditions. Another example is finding new uses for byproducts – like the nutshells used as mulch or energy generation – that can enhance fruit, nut, and vegetable production while also helping other ag-related industries reduce their footprints. Finding new and better ways to compost, or returning materials to the soil contributes to carbon sequestration initiatives. Producers are constantly studying new technologies and trying them out. As with other farmers, specialty-crop growers see a need for value-chain collaboration, but in their case consumer demand is more visible. If wholesale buyers talked more to farm-sustainability officers, they would have a better understanding that the sustainable practices consumers expect may require additional costs that are not always shared down the supply chain. Consumers may expect “all natural” products, though such programs can be hard to implement; or they may want year-round crops, which are a challenge in times of water shortage or increased pest pressures. This also raises the question of North America’s respect for and understanding of food – which is cheaper here than in most places on Earth. Does the price we’re willing to pay for our food reflect the value we place on our environment? It’s a question ripe for a national and global dialogue. Read less

For a diverse group of farmers and advocates from a range of specialties, there was astonishing little divergence in the morning of Dialogue. Representing different scales and types of farmers, participants spoke of a vision shaped by broad principles, even as each shared his or her own specific examples to make the case. The one noteworthy area of divergence was softened by a shared view of how it should be overcome. Farmers too often are blamed for environmental degradation, yet they are the vanguard of adapting the holistic “circle of life” to modern agriculture. At least one key farmer... Read more-leader stressed that “Agriculture is not broken,” adding, however, that “There’s always room for improvement.” Another countered that “maybe 10 percent of what we’re doing is wrong – we need to own our past. But what about the other 90 percent? We are moving forward.” More important than these competing perspectives on where to begin the discussion, the group spoke with a unified voice in making the case for addressing urgent problems right now, while also envisioning continual improvement for the long term. And, they say, current and future change must be addressed not just on the farm but also along the value chain. The whole food system needs to be more nature-sensitive – including the regulatory and finance aspects. When farmers look at continual improvement, they don’t see steady, uninterrupted progress any more than Thomas Edison waltzed through all of his inventions. "I didn't fail 1,000 times,” he said. “The light bulb was an invention with 1,000 steps.” Great success is built on learning from things that initially went wrong. Farmers are looking to enhance their own land and production by learning from mistakes and trying new experiments. Read less

This Dialogue reflects a range of perspectives among many different types of agriculture and demonstrates that farmers understand the environmental, climate, social, economic, and health impacts of highly complex food systems. The ideas and approaches identified by the Dialogue participants are, at their core, guiding principles for shaping the transformation of food systems. Participants hope to offer a framework and make the case for ensuring that farmers have a prominent place at the table with other key stakeholders as recommendations are developed and implemented. These suggestions come f... Read morerom North America, but are practiced in very different regions, climates, and geologies across the continent. The principles included here can be applied in many different parts of the world to enhance food security, improve nutrition and public health, enrich the soils, manage the waters, judiciously use nutrients, and adapt to climate changes – as well as build stronger multi-stakeholder partnerships along the value chain. The Dialogue also shows how farmers, ranchers and other food producers have, for decades, practiced nature-positive agriculture and steadily expanded those efforts – for both environmental and efficiency reasons. They seek a balance in how agriculture as a whole becomes more sustainable, productive, and profitable, and envision a more collaborative approach to regulation and progress. That vision also includes a full toolbox that gives farmers a range of options to creatively meet and exceed broad goals. The farmers in this Dialogue have posed questions such as: Where do we go next with innovation? How do we balance the way agriculture evolves (through innovation, research and market demand) with the need to regulate and guide it away from practices that threaten the environment? Farmers in this dialogue envisioned a new approach with regulations focused more on outcomes (healthier soil, efficient water use) rather than specific practices (reducing/measuring inputs). They recommended flexibility, instead of rigid top-down planning, to encourage new practices to evolve through trial and error. Leading farmers have been on the regenerative bandwagon for decades, using no-till methods and cover crops; finding ways to reuse “waste” with biodigesters and gas lines for energy from manure; using hulls from one crop to mulch another; and more-effective irrigation, among other practices. With those decades of knowledge, what they seek going forward is: • A place at the table for policymaking. • A diverse toolbox and the opportunity to freely experiment with those tools. • Localized food chains (along with broader ones) to ensure resilience. Read less

Common themes. Here is a summary of the major ideas and recommendations that recurred in most of the five topic breakout sessions in this Dialogue. General • There is a disconnect between producers and consumers in evaluating the cost of food and value of food. In much of North America, there is a marketing focus on low price rather than high nutrition. Farmers would like to see “food security” discussed in terms of “nutrition security.” • The sustainability, efficiency and adaptability of practices will vary across geographies and farming conditions. Value Chain • Recommendation... Read mores for nature-positive agriculture need to go beyond farmers. Many crop farmers rent much of the land they farm and must have long-term leases in order to not only implement more-sustainable practices, but to get the benefit of those practices and justify their investment in someone else’s property. Likewise, contract growers in poultry and pork already are heavily invested in basic structures and equipment required by aggregators, restricting ability to spend on new management technology. • For permanent crops, decisions made today can be in place for 25 years – so changing practices cannot necessarily occur from one crop year to the next. • Cooperatives and collaboration up and down the value chain are important to farmers’ ability to meet new goals. Whether through cost-sharing for composting facilities or anaerobic digesters, or pipelines for renewable natural gas, Sustainable Development Goals need to be on the agendas of all players in the value chain, and cognizant of the fact that one-size does not fit all. Regulation • Farm and regulator collaboration is a non-adversarial way to not only achieve environmental targets, but to make new strategies even more effective. Farmers and regulators need to talk and, more importantly, listen to and understand each other. Neither has the entire answer – they need to combine their knowledge and jointly develop solutions. Regulations need to be revised to address systems rather than specific targets on specific practices – which sometimes come in conflict with each other through different regulatory agencies. • Entities that finance agriculture also need to be part of the process of meeting food security and other SDGs. Otherwise, their terms or leases can come in conflict the way farms seek to operate more sustainably. Knowledge • Agricultural research needs to become more holistic – as well as better-funded – in terms of both applied and much-needed basic research. Farmers need integrated research that studies a new method’s benefits to multiple outcomes: nutrition content soil quality, water quality, air quality, renewable-energy generation. • Research investment must go beyond commodity crops. Changing tastes and great variety will require specialized research to assist growers of specialty crops. • Animal agriculture should be viewed as a part of a broad, diversified system – and as a solution rather than a problem. Its benefits in high-quality protein and in providing nutrients to and management of the land are essential parts of the circle of life. • Knowledge sharing is essential – through Extension and research; field days; collaboration throughout agriculture and among different siloes; cooperatives, up and down the value chain. Technical • Technology and data, as in precision agriculture, are driving more and more of agriculture. Implement manufacturers are now data and technology companies. Technology needs to be scaled appropriately and made available and affordable to farms of all sizes, with continual outreach to keep farmers abreast of technology changes. Broadband access will become ever more important in nature-positive production, enabling global adoption of precision agriculture in harmony with nature. What is needed: 1. Diversified and sustainable intensification of production strategies appropriate to different geographies, cultures and a wide variety of farm types and scales to produce high quality protein, grains, and fruits and vegetables and reconnect production processes that reintegrate livestock, aquaculture, and crop agriculture as systems to better recycle nutrients. 2. Private activities and public policies that incentivize markets and food system distribution infrastructure – ensuring food access to low-income households and vulnerable, benefit all scales of production. and provide profitable agricultural livelihoods. 3. Evidence-based and people-centered approaches that reflect the concerns of producers and multiple stakeholder groups to implement solutions and partnerships at landscape scale. 4. Systems-based agricultural research that is energized and integrated with SDG goals. Integrated research agendas should advance a systems approach to ensure health Read less

Discussion topic #1: Nature-positive strategies from producers of grains, feed, and oilseeds. ADOPTING NEW PRACTICES. Most participants in this in this breakout session have used some combination of cover crops, no-till, strip-till, inter-seeding, and other practices for decades. But many say their neighbors thought they were crazy when they first adopted these practices. Such conservation practices are slowly becoming widespread, but improvement would come much more quickly with greater incentives – longer leases for rented land, longer partnerships for federal cost-share programs, compensa... Read moretion for early adopters of nature-forward practices, developing markets for carbon sequestration – which is a long-term process that needs ongoing credits. Providers of crop insurance also need to understand the benefits of nature-positive practices. EDUCATION AND KNOWLEDGE-SHARING. Lenders, insurers, cost-share programs, regulators, and farmers need to be on the same page and work together on the long-term benefits of nature-positive practices. And they need to reach out to farmers who have been slow to adopt change. But agronomy and soil testing are part of that education – along with the technology of precision farming and understanding the varying needs across the land, even if different parts of the same field. Technology and data will drive many advances – especially when combined with farmers’ common sense and knowledge of their land. Read less

Discussion topic #2: Nature-positive strategies relating to grain production. TECHNOLOGY is critical to the drive for nature-positive agriculture, but it must be adaptable to farms of all types and scales. Plant breeding innovations must continue their progress in reducing soil loss, water use, and herbicide use. Differences in soil, terrain, land-use and other factors can vary considerably even within the same area, meaning there is no one-size-fits-all strategy. Programs and policies must be flexible enough to allow creativity and experimentation to achieve desired results at the hyper-local... Read more level. Knowledge-sharing based on these types of solutions can be the most effective way to promote widespread change. This applies to farmer-to-farmer education as well as formalized classes through Extension or associations. It also can be valuable to learn from farmers in different geographic and commodity backgrounds. A grain farmer might learn something useful from an almond farmer. CONTINUAL IMPROVEMENT – Farmers are making sustainable contributions because of environmental and climate imperatives, but also to achieve greater efficiency and effectiveness. Often this is best achieved through trial-and-error. Economics and the market help drive innovation, as farmers respond to business economics to cut costs. Farmers need to be at the table as academics and policymakers interpret new data and map out new agricultural strategies. Genetics, equipment, GPS, and precision agriculture are all factors in producing and reviewing the data. INCREASING PRODUCTIVITY – More output for each input – whether it’s investment, crop protection, genetics, time – means increased efficiency of production and has a huge positive impact on the environment. It also means collaborating with other groups in the supply chain, because each link affects, or is affected by, the others. The group also raised the question of what measurement components are necessary for farmers to build and focus on. Targets that are based on differences across a county, across a continent, or around the globe.; a focus not on reduction of specific inputs, for example, but targets related to soil health, water conservation, nutrient management, and other factors related to the “circle of life” on the farm and its surrounding areas. Read less

In general, there was a sense that the game-changer proposals already on the table after the first wave are getting to a lot of the issues that women entrepreneurs face in accessing finance, but at the same time are lacking in a number of areas, including making specific provisions for innovative ways to design and deliver financial products for women entrepreneurs (e.g. to include options such as collateral-free lending and in-kind repayment) and addressing the specific needs of women who manage “nano businesses” with one or more dedicated de-risking and financing facilities. The need to ... Read moreconsider context specificity and to design context-responsive solutions was emphasized throughout the event, suggesting that any solutions that are high-level and global in scope may be difficult to make locally significant and/or will require a lot of work to be implemented in ways that respond to different local needs and opportunities. Read less

Discussion topic 1: Building women’s entrepreneurship and capacity for innovation: what are the game-changing models in education, business development services, mentorship and peer support? The discussion around this topic considered proposals made in the first wave concerning localized support to women who process/market underutilized nutritious crops, a global innovation hub for small entrepreneurs, and a commitment by at least 50 countries to gender-transformative programmes in food systems. These were viewed positively,but participants recommended: - Being more explicit about the need/i... Read morentention to make each proposal context-specific in design, at implementation and in tracking results and impact. This point was made with particular emphasis concerning the idea of a global agri-SME platform - Being more explicit about the need for women’s empowerment across different areas, given that obstacles to entrepreneurship can stem from different factors of inequality and different constraints not directly related to women’s business activities - Being more explicit about how each proposal can/will facilitate women’s access to markets - Avoiding an overly generic focus and prioritizing value chains where women are most directly involved or likely to become involved as entrepreneurs - For proposals that have financing components, ensuring close integration between access to finance, training and/or mentoring, and adequate focus on the provision of seed capital - For those components, consider also encouraging financial institutions to pay successful women entrepreneurs to support in assessing women’s loan requests and in mentoring - Integrating support to the formation of women entrepreneurs’ groups into the “match-making” function of the proposed SME platform. Participants recommended assessing the success of the proposals made in terms of: - Increased number of women engaged at leadership levels within the sector, and confidence of women to taking leadership positions in SMEs. - Increased agency of women within the agriculture and agribusiness sector - Increased visibility of women in agriculture as “bankable” and investible - More capacity building and training delivered to women in food and agriculture - Increased presence of women in formal market chains and in the more lucrative, decision-making aspects of the value chain Participants also made an additional proposal for a global programme to set up local technical assistance hubs for women farmers and entrepreneurs, with particular focus on strengthening their business skills. The important role that farmers’ organizations and local SMEs can play in delivering or channelling business development support, facilitating peer learning and mentoring for women entrepreneurs was emphasized.Similarly, participants stressed the need to strengthen the digital infrastructure for information sharing among both women entrepreneurs (or aspiring entrepreneurs) and financial institutions. Read less

Discussion topic 2: Investing in food systems with a gender transformative lens: how to build capacity and commitment at scale across the financial sector? The main focus of this discussion across breakout groups was the proposal of a de-risking facility for agri-SME finance providers made under AT1 during the first wave. Participants reflected on the proposal and validated in particular the idea of establishing a sizeable pool of highly patient capital, while recommending considering non-grant options. They further recommended giving adequate attention to strengthening the capacity of recipie... Read morent financial intermediaries (funds, banks, non-bank financial institutions) to invest in start-ups and in women-led businesses. For the technical assistance component of the facility (which also targets financial intermediaries and investors), participants recommended including training modules that intermediaries can then use to facilitate capacity building for women entrepreneurs, including in some areas – like financial literacy – where some types of financial intermediaries may be well placed to contribute. They further recommended engaging farmers’ organizations and institutions working on gender and financial inclusion among the local providers of technical assistance to be facilitated through the TA component of the facility. For the facility to ultimately help achieve positive impact on women entrepreneurs, the metrics it is expected to use and to encourage recipient financial intermediaries to adopt should include gender-focused metrics. Examples to be considered include a “gender equity/quality scorecard” mentioned during the panel discussion by Agnes Dasewicz of SEAF, focusing both on performance by financial intermediaries and on performance by their investees or clients. For gender-transformative implementation, the facility should also model full participation of women in leadership and in decision-making at different levels- both in the facility itself and in the recipient financial intermediaries - given evidence that women are more likely to finance women, and also support efforts in collateral-free product design and delivery. Far from least importance, effective implementation will also require identifying enabling or hindering policy factors in the countries where the facility will operate and seeking to engage with governments in participating countries on a gender-transformative agenda in agri-SME finance, not only at the level of policy design but also at the level of policy implementation and enforcement. Also under this discussion heading, participants recommended identifying synergies among the different game changer proposals and ensuring the presence of some key elements in all proposals of a financial nature – such as the recognition of the need for concessional capital to de-risk/complement/increase financial flows towards women food entrepreneurs. Read less

Discussion topic 3: 3. Strengthening information systems to empower women entrepreneurs to navigate the financial sector: how to bring a gender lens to existing and new information platforms? Under this heading, participants found particular transformative potential in first wave solution proposals 4.12 (Global Matching Investment Fund for Small Scale Producers’ organisations), 4.13 (Invest in the future – Making Food Systems Finance accessible for Rural People) and 4.16 (Agri-SME Business Development Platform). Their recommendations to make these proposals mode likely to be effective at i... Read moremplementation stage included: • Close(r) interaction between financial institutions and women clients • Training and capacity building in financial and investment literacy for women • Ensuring that women know what data to collect and how to present it to financial institutions, and that financial institutions have a good understanding of women’s constraints and possibilities in relation to data collection and tracking. In general, success for all these proposals appears to participants to hinge upon close coordination and new partnerships among governments, investors, financial institutions, development partners, women’s entrepreneur groups and farmers’ organizations. Another key success factor for all the proposals is progress in addressing the digital gap in rural areas and for women – including digital literacy. Finally, participants emphasized the need to design each of the solutions with a clear financial sustainability model and plan from the very outset. One of the groups discussed in particular detail a proposal for a global (or multiple local) business development hubs for women entrepreneurs, building on the opening panel, as this was seen as innovative and potentially transformative. The hub would be designed to bridge the current information gaps between financiers and women entrepreneurs.For such a hub to improve women’s capacities while also encouraging more financial institutions to invest in women, participants suggested that it should be: -a hub of information and knowledge resources that helps financiers understand women’s entrepreneurship and the business of agriculture - accessible across different countries and in different languages - digitaland accompanied by efforts to bridge the digital divide (also on a gender basis) and to improve women’s digital and financial literacy - especially amongnano and micro businesses -gender inclusive rather than women-only in focus - providing women with information about existing initiatives that can support them to grow as entrepreneurs -able to provide or link women to training programmes - able to facilitate aggregation among women’s entrepreneurs (supporting the formation of clusters and/or, depending on context and type of business, cooperatives). Participants also considered how such a hub may help nurture, aggregate, and/or render visible to investors potential “pipeline” of women-led enterprises.Should such a hub be developed with a regional focus on Africa, participants reckoned that a number of organizations currently working on closely related initiatives may support it. This could include AGRA, Nourishing Africa, the Value4HER platform and other platforms currently emerging. Read less

Discussion topic 4: 4. Designing financial products and services for women food entrepreneurs: where are the critical gaps and highest potential impact areas of innovation? One group addressing this theme discussed existing game changer proposals under the headings of a Catalytic SME financing facility; Global matching investment fund; and Making food system finance available for rural communities. To improve on these proposals, participants recommended to: - Leverage existing studies on financing women to influence mind-set change among lenders, noting that studies demonstrate profitability a... Read morend low risk in lending to women, but only 10% of financial institutions use gender disaggregated data to inform tailored products. - Increase gender lens lending appetite through incentives to funds and institutions that prioritize impact financing, green finance and finance to enterprises that contribute to the SDGs. This will also influence entrepreneur prioritization of sustainable food productionsystems and nutrition. - Frame the narrative to financial institutions as gender lens finance rather than focus it narrowly on agriculture, as gender lens finance is proven to be less risky across sectors. - Continue to emphasize the importance of women’s groups and portfolio aggregation in finance. - Focus technical assistance around nutritious and high development impact products and combine support to women entrepreneurs with actions to develop markets and finance for these products. - Keep in mind that women entrepreneurs need a full suite of financial products not just credit. - Leverage technology and big data to reduce information asymmetry and perceived risk. - Expand the collateral base to include technology-based collateral, group guarantees etc. Participants also made specific suggestions for measuring success around these proposals, including: 1. % of the credit gap to women reduced 2. % increase of financial institutions lending to women 3. Number of new women tailored financial products on the market 4. % change in cost of credit To realize the proposals, participants emphasized the need for an ecosystem approach incorporating the financial institutions and other investors, governments, enablers and other stakeholders. With more specific focus to each of the existing proposals, participants considered the following. - The proposed de-risking facility is more likely to be relevant to women entrepreneurs if it supports financial institutions both to design more products with women in mind and to communicate about them in ways that are clearly intelligible for women without formal finance or business training. The TA component of the facility should help inform financial intermediaries about the range of options they can consider to reach more women entrepreneurs (including highly innovative models such as loans with in-product repayment, as adopted by some institutions in Canada). - The proposed global matching fund for investments by agri-SMEs can be more relevant to or focused on women entrepreneurs’ needs if it provides not only for grants or soft loans but also for in-kind finance (especially via equipment) and technically assistance around its use. - The proposed rolling out of digital solutions among rural financial intermediaries and FSPs can be made more relevant to women by also including revolving funds and local savings and credit associations among the types of institutions that can benefit from automation and/or use of digital data and systems. Read less

Since discussions focused on solutions, no clear areas of divergence emerged.

This Independent Dialogue focused on catalysing finance for women food entrepreneurs at different scales, including micro and SME level. It was hosted by IFAD, curated by the SAFIN Secretariat, and co-convened with AGRA, Agripreneurship Alliance, GAA-EL, IAFN, Nourishing Africa, One Young World, and the Gender Lever of the UNFSS. The approach taken in this dialogue was to review the game changer proposals from the “first wave” that are relevant to the theme at hand, and assess them – considering strengths and weaknesses and proposing ways to enrich them or new solutions – particularly ... Read morefrom the perspectives of women entrepreneurs. The event was structured around a public segment, with keynote interventions and a moderated panel of women entrepreneurs and investors, and a closed segment with facilitated dialogue groups. Facilitators for each session were selected due to their strong expertise in the sector and were briefed before-hand on process and the need to focus on concrete, actionable solutions (i.e vs. discussing problems). Read less