Cracking the Nut 2024

Abuja, Nigeria

Building on Cracking the Nut® 2023, which focused on reducing risk in rural and agricultural investment, Cracking the Nut® 2024 focused on creative ways to leverage public and private sector investment to support climate adaptations in agriculture. Climate change is accelerating at a rapid pace, and with it the world will continue to experience food shortages, price hikes, and food insecurity. This learning event highlighted how climate change is increasing risk associated with rural and agricultural development and making it harder to attract private capital to support agribusinesses in developing countries, requiring more public and private sector coordination and planning.

Recently, it has become increasingly obvious that there is too much risk involved in financing rural and agricultural development to attract sufficient commercial investment and that development assistance is needed to facilitate finance, especially to agribusinesses, in developing countries. Without investing in farmers, the world will continue to experience food shortages, price hikes and food insecurity. This learning event will discuss what are appropriate ways to support rural and agricultural development in developing countries without damaging commercial markets. We will explore the opportunities for finance to drive supply chains and trade, the needs of informal enterprises (i.e. the hidden middle) and an enabling business advisory ecosystem, as well as how green finance and informal financial institutions can support farmers to be effective stewards of climate change.

Connexus Corporation is working with ISF Advisors to organize a two-day conference, which will review the recommendations put forward in their 2022 CASA1 publication, “The state of the agri-SME sector; Bridging the Finance Gap” and begin to fill in the knowledge gaps needed to ensure these approaches are viable and will stimulate natural market mechanisms. This topic is particularly important given the negative impacts of climate change in countries and assumes all agricultural development efforts must be climate smart. By addressing this important topic, this event will convene leading experts in rural enterprise development, sustainable agriculture, finance, and investment, including representatives from the private sector, governments, donors, and development implementers. As always, the conference has engaged an Advisory Committee, including agents of change in rural and agricultural development, finance and investment, who are helping us to identify interesting speakers and participate in a competitive selection of presenters for break‐out sessions.

SPEAKERS

Our Themes

Reducing Risks Associated With Rural and Agricultural Investments

To what extent are insurance and guarantee funds helping to reduce risks of rural and agricultural investments? What more can be done to ensure these solutions are fully utilized? What other awards, incentives or data platforms can help to reduce risk and attract rural and agricultural investment? How can technical assistance and the business advisory ecosystem help to make rural and agri-businesses more credit and investment ready?

Using Subsidies and Blending Commercial Capital to Achieve Development Impacts

How can donors and governments invest in a way that will attract private investment in rural and agricultural markets? What are the ways in which finance can drive supply chains and trade? How can Investment Committees ensure that a Fund’s social objectives are met? What are the trade-offs between focusing on significant private sector leverage versus maximizing social impact? Can pension funds be used to create more long-term debt and quasi-equity investments in rural and agricultural markets, such as for agro-forestry?

Integrating Underserved Populations Into Commercial Markets

What business models are most effective in ensuring inclusion of women, youth and the rural poor in commercial markets and access to finance? Are grant funds better directed at underserved populations, such as women and youth, or at investment vehicles to lower the cost of finance and expand outreach to more rural areas? What business models encourage “catalytic capital,” in which finance flows to agri-SMEs along with their associated farmers? How can we support linkages between banks and informal financial institutions?