An initiative that aims to make smallholder farmers around the world more resilient, by leveraging the benefits of Nature-based Solutions (NbS), has partnered with the Race to Resilience.

“Scale for Resilience” addresses all parts of the financial value chain and seeks to create the conditions to finance NbS on a large scale by promoting digital tools.

The goal of the initiative is to make 3 million farmers more resilient by 2030, “by knowledge creation, capacity building and access to finance,” say organisers. It will also address the full financial value chain: uniting everyone from investors and micro-financial institutions to research centres and technology providers.

Making smallholder farmers more resilient is critical. In Western Africa, alone, more than 60% of the population depend directly or indirectly on smallholder farmer units for food security and income generation, while this number is estimated to be 70% in Latin America and the Caribbean.

At the same time, smallholder farmers are among the most vulnerable to climate change effects. Degrading ecosystems and a growing population put pressure on the productivity and reliability of smallholder food systems. NbS, such as organic composting systems, or crop diversification are thought to be a cost-efficient way to tackle many of these challenges.

“With our initiative we want to lead by good example and make visible how Nature-based Solutions can empower the most vulnerable. We need to foster mutual learning across continents and cultures. Only then, can we build the foundation of trust to create a paradigm shift in the financial industry,” said Sabrina Nagel, Coordinator, Scale for Resilience, YAPU Solutions.

Scale for Resilience is one of 25 initiatives that the Race to Resilience has invited from all over the world to help build up resilience towards climate hazards for 4 billion people globally by 2030. The campaign is catalysing a step-change in global ambition for climate resilience, putting people and nature first in pursuit of a resilient world where we don’t just survive climate shocks and stresses but thrive in spite of them. Click here to find out more.