100 Million Farmers: Breakthrough Models for Financing a Sustainability TransitionI N S I G H T R E P O R TJ A N U A R Y 2 0 2 4In collaboration with Bain & CompanyImages: Getty Images© 2024 World Economic Forum. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system.Disclaimer This document is published by the World Economic Forum as a contribution to a project, insight area or interaction. The findings, interpretations and conclusions expressed herein are a result of a collaborative process facilitated and endorsed by the World Economic Forum but whose results do not necessarily represent the views of the World Economic Forum, nor the entirety of its Members, Partners or other stakeholders.ContentsForeword 3Executive summary 41 Navigating the transition to sustainable food production 61.1 The need for a faster transition 71.2 Barriers to faster adoption by farmers 101.3 The financing and collaboration challenges 122 Breakthrough models for financing and collaboration to support farmers 142.1 An illustration of a breakthrough model for financing and collaboration 152.2 Innovative existing programmes 202.3 Gaps in existing programmes 233 Roadmap to drive a step-change in sustainable food production 26Appendix 31Contributors 33Endnotes 35100 Million Farmers: Breakthrough Models for Financing a Sustainability Transition2ForewordThere is a leadership imperative to urgently and thoughtfully reshape how we produce and consume food to make our food systems more sustainable and resilient. The requisite climate-smart and nature-positive production practices, technologies and inputs are increasingly well understood. What we must address together is how to support producer communities and value chains to meaningfully accelerate and sustain the adoption of these production changes. Faster adoption will drive progress on the Paris Agreement’s 2030 global climate goals, possibly ahead of any other sector, and alleviate the stresses on one of our most scarce resources – water.Individual farmers face many barriers – particularly economic risks – when adopting more sustainable production practices, technologies and inputs. This report seeks to accelerate the transition by proposing a clear roadmap for more effective collective action. Crucially, successful transformation requires a major boost of diversified capital and breakthrough models of financing and collaboration to support farmers. Many actors (public and private, within food value chains and beyond) have essential roles to play in providing that capital and deploying it effectively. Using regenerative agriculture as an example – a critical part of the transition to sustainable food systems in its own right – the report proposes a model and roadmap for more e...
