Investing in inclusive rural transformation: innovative approaches to financing

Co-organized by IFAD and the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance, with the Brookings Institution and the University of Warwick the conference “Investing in inclusive rural transformation: Innovative approaches to financing”  brings together policy and decision-makers, representatives of government organizations, the private sector, research and academic institutions, multilateral and bilateral development organizations, civil society and others for two days of solutions-focused discussion on policies and institutions which can improve access to finance for investment by smallholder farmers and rural small and medium enterprises in favour of inclusive growth.

The need to boost investment in rural economic development and financial inclusion in order to achieve the new global agenda is widely recognized and it has been the subject of many recent debates – particularly among development partners. However, as stated in the concept note of this event, the debate is often narrowly focused on agriculture and food supply chains, rarely addressing the nexus of rural investment and rural transformation and financial inclusion.

This conference aims to fill the gap in the comprehension and sharing of lessons learned to support innovative efforts in the areas of rural and agri-food finance and  agri-food investments.  The objectives of the conference are particularly:

- to advance the understanding about opportunities and challenges in mobilizing finance for inclusive and sustainable rural transformation;

- Identify new, effective and efficient instruments and partnerships to finance smallholder agriculture development and rural SMEs; and

- lay out a country-differentiated, evidence-based policy and institutional agenda to move forward in boosting financing for inclusive rural investments.

The detailed concept note and the provisional agenda as well as the background document to the event Smallholder Pathways Toward Inclusive and Sustainable Rural Transformation and related resources (Rural Development Report 2016) are available here. The streaming of the conference will be available in the section “watch live”.