100 Million Farmers: Breakthrough Models for Financing a Sustainability Transition

The report argues that global food systems must transition rapidly to sustainable production to reduce their significant impact on greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity loss, and freshwater withdrawals. It identifies a massive financing gap, noting that less than 4% of climate finance in 2021 and 2022 was dedicated to agriculture, forestry, and other land use. To overcome farmer barriers—primarily the risk of near-term cash flow decreases before long-term benefits are realized—the report proposes a 'breakthrough model' featuring a 'farmer services stack' of financial and non-financial support. This model relies on the full monetization of ecosystem services (carbon, water, biodiversity, and resilience) and a coordinating mechanism to aggregate capital from public and private sources. The report analyzes existing programmes in the US, Australia, France, and Kenya, and provides a five-point roadmap for scaling these models globally by 2030.

• Global food systems have a severe environmental footprint, accounting for over 30% of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2020, over 80% of tropical deforestation and biodiversity loss, and 70% of global freshwater withdrawals.
• There is a significant shortfall in climate finance for the agricultural sector; while full food system transformation requires an additional $300 billion to $350 billion in annual capital investment through 2030, less than 4% of climate finance in 2021 and 2022 was allocated to agriculture, forestry, and other land use.
• Farmers face three primary categories of barriers to adopting regenerative agriculture: economic (affordability, timing of value, and risk), technical/operational (access to advice and data metrics), and social (trust and autonomy). Economic barriers are the most critical, with over 90% of surveyed US farmers citing uncertainty over return on investment as a barrier.
• The proposed breakthrough model centers on a 'farmer services stack' that provides flexible financial and non-financial solutions. Key financial components include lending and insurance on more favourable terms and upfront payments or guarantees to offset early-year cash flow decreases.
• To sustain the transition, the report argues for the full monetization of all ecosystem services—including carbon sequestration, water quality, biodiversity, and resilience—rather than relying solely on carbon offsets. This requires a coordinating mechanism to aggregate value from all actors who benefit from these outcomes.
• Analysis of over 50 existing regenerative agriculture programmes in the US revealed that none currently include every critical design element of the breakthrough model, particularly regarding the full stack of services and the engagement of financial actors.
• In developing markets, the model must be adapted for smallholder farms. This includes a greater role for government ministries to build enabling environments and international donors to provide concessional capital and blended mechanisms to de-risk commercial lending.
• The report outlines a five-point roadmap to 2030: scaling breakthrough models, increasing financial actor engagement, structuring precompetitive collaboration among value chain companies, establishing supportive policies, and developing a data commons for ecosystem services.

APA

World Economic Forum (2024). 100 Million Farmers: Breakthrough Models for Financing a Sustainability Transition. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_100_Million_Farmers_2024.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. 100 Million Farmers: Breakthrough Models for Financing a Sustainability Transition. 2024. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_100_Million_Farmers_2024.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=100 Million Farmers: Breakthrough Models for Financing a Sustainability Transition |date=January 2024 |url=https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_100_Million_Farmers_2024.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2024100, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{100 Million Farmers: Breakthrough Models for Financing a Sustainability Transition}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2024}, month = jan, url = {https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_100_Million_Farmers_2024.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }