The three-day African Regional Exchange was organised by the Forest and Farm Facility in collaboration with CIFOR-ICRAF, the Kenya Forestry Research Institute and the Kenya Forest Service, to address financing challenges for smallholder farmers
The event brings together more than 200 participants including farmers, bankers, governments and development partners from across Africa and beyond to discuss ways to ensure that smallholder farmers who constitute the backbone of the region’s food system, have access to the finance they need to improve and scale up sustainable forest and farm management practices.
“Unlocking finance for smallholder forest and farm producers can help to achieve sustainable development and respond to climate change,” said Ewald Rametsteiner, FAO deputy director, Forestry Division.
Smallholder producers, including Forest and Farm Producer Organisations (FFPOs), Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities (IPLCs), women’s organisations and their enterprises are often unable to qualify for finance for improving or scaling up sustainable forest and farm management practices, resulting in them spending some of their own resources.
The meeting aims to raise awareness of the different ways in which these groups can access available resources and the ways banks and governments could better understand the valuable work of small farmers work and develop financing systems tailored to their needs. On the second day of the meeting, participants will have a field trip designed to offer insights into some of the challenges faced and solutions found by smallholder cooperatives in two counties of Kenya.
Moreover, since the African Regional Exchange builds on discussions at the Exchange of Knowledge on community mechanisms for territorial financing held in October 2022 in Mexico, some delegates from Latin America and Asia will also be sharing their knowledge at the event.
