The Cracking the Nut Conference 2011 aimed at accelerating the impact of the world’s leading rural and agricultural development and finance leaders by uniting them in a collaborative pursuit of learning, leverage and large scale change. The conference is named “Cracking the Nut,” as rural and agricultural finance have long been tough nuts to crack. This conference brought together practitioners, private sector professionals, policymakers, funders, educators, researchers, and other professionals, who work in the rural and agricultural finance sector. This conference took place on June 20-21, 2011 in Washington, D.C. at the Enrique V. Igelsias Conference Center.

Our Themes

Managing Risk Effectively

How can risk management be improved to increase access to finance, including savings, insurance, value chain approaches, etc.?

Forging Agricultural Finance Innovations

What are some of the most successful approaches to financing agriculture and how can they be adapted to other environments?

Reducing Cost of Rural Outreach

What technologies and innovative delivery methods can be applied to reduce transaction costs associated with serving rural areas?

Making Markets Work for Rural and Agricultural Finance

How can we create an enabling environment and overcome policy and market constraints that hinder rural and agricultural development? What role can finance play in facilitating that development? How can we forge linkages between financial institutions and rural enterprises?

Attracting Private Investment

What will it take to attract private investors and socially responsible investment funds to support the expansion of rural and agricultural development and finance in developing countries? How can we link green investors to rural and agricultural development?

Cracking the Nut 2011