Innovations Session N°14

The recording of the session is available in English, French and Portuguese on YouTube.

Agrifood SMEs play a critical role in global food production, but their vulnerability to climate change threatens their viability and poses risks to food security. Embracing climate-resilient practices and innovative solutions is essential for their survival and success in a changing climate. Governments, international organisations, and private sector stakeholders should work together to provide financial incentives, capacity-building programmes, and policy support to help agrifood SMEs transition towards climate resilience. By investing in sustainable and adaptive practices, these enterprises can secure a more sustainable and food-secure future for all.

Smallholders, entrepreneurs and SMEs need access to technology, skills, finance and training to allow for climate innovations to develop. There is a need to support climate technology incubators and accelerators providing support to entrepreneurs, helping them to develop business know-how, market connections and technical capacity, and to provide guidance on sources and procedures for access to finance.

Key points for discussion:

• What are the key innovations that farmers and entrepreneurs develop and adopt which contribute to climate resilience?
• What type of investments are needed to support entrepreneurs to contribute further to climate adaptation and resilience?
• What incentives can be provided to SMEs and smallholders to better acquire technical skills needed to contribute to climate resilience?