Root Regen 2035

One third of the global population – over 2.5 billion people – relies on small-scale farming for their livelihoods. Limited resources, lack of affordable capital, and restricted market access force these farmers to operate on razor-thin margins – already stretched thin before any external shock arrives.

For 570 million smallholder farmers, that shock has arrived and it is intensifying. Climate change has become the defining threat to smallholder prosperity today. Without intervention, it is expected to push 135 million people into poverty by 2030, erasing decades of development progress.

To remain viable, farmers will need to invest in solutions that help them adapt to and build resilience in the face of a changing climate. But solutions for adapting farming practices and deploying new infrastructure and technologies require greater upfront investment than conventional farming, with increased yields and incomes taking several years to materialize, as soils and other natural resources recover.

Farmers with limited savings will require immediate financing to realize these benefits. Yet, currently, less than 1% of global climate finance is directed toward small-scale agriculture.

The solution to growing smallholder prosperity in the context of a changing climate lies in ramping up and sustaining massive global adoption of regenerative agriculture. This is a holistic approach that restores environmental health, reduces carbon emissions, builds resilience to climate shocks, and creates more stable, diversified income streams for smallholder farming families. Regenerative practices such as agroforestry, organic soil management, and crop diversification go beyond helping farmers survive the climate crisis to help them thrive by improving yields, reducing input costs, and providing access to premium markets that reward sustainable practices.

Achieving this at scale requires partnering with tightly knit local farmer networks that can reach, influence, and accompany millions of farmers efficiently and effectively over the long term. Some of the best examples of such “first mile” farmer networks are the agricultural small- and medium-sized enterprises (agri-SMEs) that collectively organize hundreds to thousands of farmers. These businesses, which include producer-led cooperatives and agro-processors run by rural entrepreneurs, connect farmers to markets and provide critical service bundles combining training, inputs, credit, infrastructure, and market access. As businesses run by and for the farmers they support, agri-SMEs are among the best suited networks to understand farmers' needs and to design, deliver, and sustain customized solutions.