Promoting Inclusive Green Finance in Agriculture

In recent years, various stakeholders in the financial inclusion domain have begun taking an interest in the possibility of designing innovative financial services – tailored to the needs of vulnerable agricultural actors – that can also promote the adoption of sustainable practices, technologies and production models, all aimed at fostering farmers’ resilience and growth in the face of rising effects of climate change. Nested at the intersection between financial inclusion and environmental sustainability, this “inclusive green finance” approach to development seeks to combine the promotion of different financial services suitable for the needs of small-scale agriculture with a range of incentives aimed at promoting sustainable agriculture, forest protection, efficient water use, clean energy transition, and a host of other practices linked to climate change adaptation and mitigation, environmental protection, and efficient use of natural resources, among other aspects.

This publication seeks to contribute towards filling the current knowledge gap on inclusive green finance by presenting a series of concrete case studies that touch upon different aspects of green finance in agriculture, with a specific, overarching focus on the promotion of sustainable small-scale agricultural production. The selection of case studies aims to showcase how widely differing types of institutions, engaged in the promotion of agriculture in developing countries, have created innovative and impactful models for mainstreaming climate-smart and “green” considerations in their financial provision activities - models that could be further replicated and adapted by different stakeholders in their own contexts.