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The Marketing Infrastructure, Value Addition and Rural Finance Support Programme (MIVARF) is a seven-year programme aimed at supporting sustainable and profitable links between smallholders and markets in Tanzania. Through the 4Ps approach, the programme organizes smallholder producers into groups and cooperatives, teaching negotiation skills and building trust to reduce transaction costs with private investors.

To nutritiously and sustainably feed the planet, healthy and diversified diets need to be made available. By implementing a climate smart agroforestry approach that integrates food trees providing nutrient-dense foods, this solution expands smallholder farmer communities’ diets and livelihood options in East Africa.

The Agri-Entrepreneurs Model by Syngenta Foundation incentivizes youth to play an active role in their region’s agricultural development. An agri-entrepreneur (AE) brings together services such as access to credit, market linkages, high-quality inputs and crop advice for a cluster of 150-200 farmers. The model is currently active across 16 states in India. With over 40 partner organizations, the programme has stitched together a robust ecosystem to support smallholders.

In recent years, China has made important breakthroughs in the research and development of rodent infertility agents and has been using them to successfully control the animals’ populations. The Chinese Academy of Sciences launched experimentation projects in various countries in Africa for the purpose of verifying their efficacy to apply pest control advances, enhance agricultural undertakings, and boost incomes in these locations.​​​​​​​

By introducing the Juncao species of grass in Fiji, the Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University enabled smallholder farmers to greatly improve their incomes. Juncao can be used as feed for livestock during dry seasons and as a medium for cultivating edible and medicinal mushrooms.

A Farmers’ Hub (FH) is a one-stop commercial service platform where smallholders can access quality agri-inputs, farm machinery, markets, finance, and knowledge. Under a franchise system, each FH is run by an educated young rural person who ensures the quality of services. To optimize business operations and connect relevant partners, FHs use a digital tool called eFarmersHub. Around 200,000 smallholder farmers currently get services from FHs in Bangladesh.

Farmers across the Global South can learn from agroecological solutions presented by their peers via Access Agriculture’s online video platform. While thousands of organizations and rural service providers have freely downloaded and shared these videos from Africa, Asia and Latin America, farmers have become the largest occupational group signing up for Access Agriculture. At least sixty million farmers have seen Access Agriculture videos.

A tool to help smallholder farmers avoid devastating financial losses.

Providing safe and innovative bioherbicide, designed by and for smallholders.

Kumé is an IFAD-supported platform created by Fundación ACUA (Afro-descendant Cultural Assets Foundation). By commercializing gastronomic products and services that promote culture, traditional knowledge and local crops, ACUA enhances the visibility of rural Afro-descendant communities in Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. Through the platform, chefs in rural territories offer live online cooking classes for participants in major cities. Using traditional recipes, the chefs showcase their cultures, territories and traditional practices.

Ten years ago, community-based breeding programmes appeared as a pioneer solution for improving the genes of sheep and goat in low-input systems. CBBPs focus on building local capacity by training farmers, leading to sustained genetic improvement of indigenous breeds. The solution has made economically important genes more common, increased farmers’ income by 20 per cent and helped the community triple their consumption of animal source foods.

The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) promotes cactus pear as a crop that millions of farmers in semi-arid and dry areas can use to improve their nutrition and incomes. Cactus is a multifunctional crop, mitigating drought and combating desertification. In South Asia as well as Middle-East and North Africa (MENA), the cultivation of cactus pear increases the economic viability of small and medium-sized farms of low-income farmers

The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) has developed high-yielding wheat varieties with resistance to extreme heat, drought, salinity, insect pests and diseases. The varieties have been adopted throughout Central and West Asia, North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, areas highly vulnerable to climate change. This solution aims to enhance productivity, raise farmers’ incomes, create jobs and increase value addition by encouraging higher levels of wheat self-sufficiency.

To improve incomes from sheep fattening in rural Ethiopia, ICARDA took a new approach that leveraged youth as influencers to scale up adoption of improved sheep fattening technology and practices. Young people received a start-up package, participated in youth group trainings, were supported by a community of practice and disseminated their knowledge by organizing field days. This approach has continued in the communities despite the project ending. Thus, ICARDA continues to provide support and trainings to youth groups.

The reproductive platform aims to establish low-cost, low-infrastructure reproductive laboratories that transform breeding programs in Ethiopia by enhancing the management of reproductive cycles and genetic improvements to popular sheep and goat breeds. It reduces the risk that potentially unsuitable rams would be used for breeding and provides communities with new business opportunities.

The Sustainable Rangeland Management (SRM) toolkit, tested in Tunisia, lays out a scalable, holistic and multidisciplinary approach for addressing the biophysical and socio-economic trade-offs among different land uses. The toolkit helps communities, policymakers and development actors apply key sustainable rangeland management practices to targeted regions. It can play a major role in achieving a neutral level of land degradation, increased forage production and enhanced ecosystem services.

Harnessing the power of ICTs to improve agricultural extension services in Malawi

Promoting proficiency and sustainable development to increase incomes and alleviate poverty

Gradual poverty alleviation by marketing local specialties and tourism

A variety of measures help develop the economics of a popular regional product and reduce poverty

Enabling grass-roots agricultural extension workers to acquire timely information and knowledge in China

Women, work and peace: Training women to overcome conflict and natural disasters

Improving food security by reducing post-harvest loss in fishery through better processing

Charcoal produced as a by-product of daily cooking becomes a livelihood opportunity.

Spate irrigation provides an effective solution during times of water shortage

Tackling malnutrition through knowledge sharing and practical demonstrations among farmers

Through expert advice, farmers improve the health of their crops and access best practices.

Sustainable, export-oriented small businesses to produce cashmere, mohair and wool.

Facilitating smallholders' access to working capital to improve food and income security.

Strong information flow within a supply chain for better outcomes.

Knowledge-sharing initiative to boost agricultural innovation.

Giving entrepreneurs the skills and tools to build their ideas into businesses.

Developing Pastoral Units to support natural resource management in Senegal.

Using sustainable apiculture to offset climate change.

Promoting equality within family units to support broader social change.

Environmentally similar countries can pool resources to accelerate agricultural development.

Local and international groups collaborate to restore a tradition of outstanding coffee.