The 6th Annual Learning Event (ALE) identified different learning opportunities and solutions with the aim of helping farmers cope, adapt and thrive amidst numerous stressors caused by environmental and economic shocks. Recommendations were identified through discussions on how partnerships between private sector, development finance institutions, governments and donors can coordinate on institutional and global public good investments. Taking advantage of collective action and maximizing investment resources through coordinated support for the vibrant ecosystem of local innovators addressing local challenges to develop smallholder farmer resilience in the face of global issues was identified as an emerging solution.
Through the event’s sessions, participants identified cross cutting hurdles. These were:
- Major gaps in smallholder farmers’ access to services.
- Presence of a persisting gender gap regarding access to digital tools.
- Climate change: This has led to a disruption of farming systems, erratic weather which in turn affects farmer resiliency.
These hurdles affect access to services and are key considerations to innovators when solving farmer challenges. To promote enhanced sustainability, solutions need to be to consider cost, literacy, safety, coupled with designs and deployment mechanisms that work for women. Application of these and other learnings was highly encouraged throughout the event. The following report provides a synopsis of the day’s events and is structured into six sections each addressing a conference session, reporting the discussions that took place, and tying in learning opportunities and solutions, all focused on the event’s theme of “Developing smallholder farmer resilience in the face of global issues.”
Read the report
