Cracking the Nut 2012, which took place on June 25-26 at Enrique V. Iglesias Conference Center in Washington, D.C., was the premier global event to exclusively focus on leveraging public-private partnerships to develop rural and agricultural markets and help you identify investment opportunities at all points along dynamic rural and agricultural value chains.

This year, Cracking the Nut hosted large food companies, multinational businesses, value chain financiers, investment fund managers, development practitioners, donor representatives, public servants and many others from 41 countries on five different continents. This truly global environment, along with the integration of audience participation and dialogue, helped create a unique platform to share and learn about programs, methodologies, strategies and tools that work in attracting private sector investors to rural and agricultural markets.

Our Themes

Expand to New Markets

With soaring population rates and rising living standards, agriculture and agribusiness are poised for unparalleled global growth. There is rising demand from growing and increasingly urban populations in developing countries. Sessions under this theme will show you how to identify and serve new markets that offer significant growth and income potential.

Create Effective Partnerships

Agribusiness success relies on knowing the market, where and how to source affordable and reliable inputs, and access to financial services in a timely manner, especially in the face of complex economic, environmental and social challenges. This theme will highlight how innovative public-private partnerships can overcome obstacles and facilitate access to information and services in a cost-effective manner

Leverage Positive Government Support

This theme will demonstrate how to work with governments to create enabling environments that provide proper incentives for players to invest in rural and agricultural businesses and its supporting infrastructure.

Make Finance Work

Finance and impact investing are expanding in ways that serve rural and agriculture markets, creating competitive, financial and social returns. However, many companies still struggle to make finance work for their suppliers. This theme will showcase innovative approaches to sustainably increase access to finance and investments for rural and agricultural supply chains. Come see how an increasing number of impact investors are designing innovative approaches to sustainably support rural and agricultural markets by combining guarantees, insurance and technical assistance funds to reinforce financial and social impacts of their funds..

Tap New Sources of Supply

With increasing consumer awareness of fair trade, organic and specialty foods, many firms are realizing that sustainable sourcing from aggregated small-scale agricultural producers not only appeals to consumers, but also reduces risks in the supply chain and stabilizes prices. Learn how to tap new sources of supply, certify quality, increase productivity and reduce costs while contributing to sustainable production.