Build Climate Resilience from the Ground Up By Investing in Agricultural Enterprises – Business Fights Poverty

Report on People-Centered Climate Action and Agricultural Investment

Introduction: The Belém Declaration and Alignment with Sustainable Development Goals

An international consensus is emerging, underscored by the Belém Declaration, that effective climate action must be people-centered. This approach directly aligns with multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by prioritizing the resilience and livelihoods of vulnerable populations, particularly smallholder farmers. The declaration commits signatories to strengthening support for these communities, framing climate action as a critical pathway to achieving global targets on poverty, hunger, and sustainability.

• SDG 1 (No Poverty) & SDG 2 (Zero Hunger): The declaration’s focus on smallholder farmers directly addresses the goals of eradicating poverty and ensuring food security.
• SDG 13 (Climate Action): It reframes climate policy to focus on the human dimension, particularly adaptation and resilience for frontline communities.
• SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals): The declaration calls for collaborative efforts between governments and other stakeholders to support its objectives.

The Nexus of Climate, Agriculture, and Development Challenges

Impact on Smallholder Farmers and Setbacks to SDG Progress

Agriculture is central to achieving several SDGs, yet it is highly vulnerable to climate change. Small-scale farming, which supports over 500 million families, is disproportionately affected by climate impacts, threatening progress on key development indicators.

1. Threat to SDG 2 (Zero Hunger): Smallholder farmers produce one-third of the world’s food. Climate impacts such as droughts, extreme weather, and crop diseases jeopardize global food security.
2. Exacerbation of SDG 1 (No Poverty): These farmers, who possess critical knowledge of regenerative practices, bear the financial burden of climate adaptation, spending 20-40% of their limited incomes on it.
3. The Climate Finance Gap and SDG 13 (Climate Action): A significant disparity exists, with smallholder farmers receiving less than 1% of global climate finance ($5.53 billion) despite their collective annual adaptation spending of $369 billion. This gap hinders their ability to contribute effectively to climate solutions.

Agricultural Enterprises: A Strategic Vehicle for SDG Achievement

Channeling Climate Finance for Resilience and Economic Growth

Local agricultural enterprises are identified as a critical “missing link” capable of channeling climate finance to farming communities at scale. These businesses are uniquely positioned to advance multiple SDGs simultaneously by connecting farmers to essential resources.

• SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth): By providing training, inputs, and market access, these enterprises enable farmers to build resilient livelihoods and increase incomes.
• SDG 13 (Climate Action) & SDG 15 (Life on Land): They facilitate the adoption of low-carbon, regenerative practices like agroforestry, which builds soil health, enhances biodiversity, and increases resilience to climate shocks.

Case Studies in SDG Implementation

• Rebuild Women’s Hope Cooperative (DRC): This enterprise demonstrates the intersection of SDG 5 (Gender Equality), SDG 13 (Climate Action), and SDG 15 (Life on Land). With financing, it supports over 3,000 women farmers by distributing shade trees, promoting organic agroforestry, and improving incomes in a conflict-affected region.
• Peruvian Cooperatives: Initiatives to establish nurseries for pest-resistant seedlings and produce organic fertilizer directly support SDG 2 (Zero Hunger) by ensuring crop health and SDG 13 (Climate Action) by building long-term farm resilience.

Quantifiable Impact on Development Targets

Data from Root Capital’s Climate Resilience Roadmap illustrates the tangible impact of investing in agricultural enterprises:

1. Financial Disbursement: $73.6 million in climate finance was disbursed to 109 enterprises in 2024, reaching 237,000 farmers.
2. Economic Impact (SDG 1 & SDG 8): 68% of affiliated farmers reported higher incomes.
3. Resilience Impact (SDG 13): 64% of farmers reported a greater capacity to recover from climate shocks.

The Corporate Imperative for Sustainable Supply Chains

Aligning Business Strategy with SDG 12 and SDG 17

Corporate investment in agricultural enterprises is presented not as philanthropy but as a strategic necessity for building resilient supply chains, directly contributing to SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production). Climate change poses significant risks to global commodities, making investment in farmer resilience a core business imperative.

• Partnership Model (SDG 17): The 25-year partnership between Keurig Dr Pepper and Root Capital exemplifies how corporate investment can evolve from providing basic financial access to driving regenerative agriculture at scale.
• Regulatory Compliance and Sustainability: Upcoming regulations like the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) highlight the need for corporate support. Investing in the capacity of small enterprises to meet traceability and compliance standards is crucial for maintaining market access and advancing SDG 15 (Life on Land).

Conclusion: A Call for Action Through Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships

Translating Global Goals into Local Impact

While the Belém Declaration provides a framework, its success depends on concrete action from all stakeholders to close the climate finance gap. The report concludes that achieving the SDGs requires a fundamental shift towards investing in locally-rooted enterprises that empower communities on the frontlines of climate change.

1. Governments and Funders: Must create policies and financial mechanisms that direct capital to agricultural enterprises.
2. Corporations: Should integrate support for these enterprises into their core supply chain strategies as a means of risk mitigation and achieving sustainability targets.
3. Nonprofits and Intermediaries: Must continue to build the capacity of local enterprises and demonstrate the impact of these investments.

Ultimately, fulfilling the promise of the Belém Declaration and advancing the Sustainable Development Goals hinges on activating SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals) to provide meaningful, sustained investment in the communities stewarding global food systems.

Analysis of Sustainable Development Goals in the Article

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

1. SDG 1: No Poverty
   • The article directly addresses poverty through the “Belém Declaration on Hunger, Poverty, and People-Centered Climate Action.” It focuses on smallholder farmers, who constitute a significant portion of the world’s poor, and discusses how improving their incomes and resilience directly contributes to poverty alleviation.
2. SDG 2: Zero Hunger
   • This goal is central to the article, which highlights that smallholder farmers “produce a third of the world’s food” and are essential for “food security.” The focus on sustainable agricultural practices and resilient food production systems directly aligns with achieving zero hunger.
3. SDG 5: Gender Equality
   • The article provides a specific example of the “Rebuild Women’s Hope Cooperative” in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which works with “over 3,000 women coffee farmers.” This highlights the role of women in agriculture and the importance of empowering them through access to finance and resources.
4. SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth
   • The article advocates for investing in “local agricultural enterprises” and “small and growing agricultural businesses” as a means to create resilient livelihoods and economic stability for farming communities. The mention of “higher incomes” for farmers supports this goal.
5. SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production
   • The article discusses the need for “resilient supply chains” and highlights corporate partnerships, such as Keurig Dr Pepper with Root Capital, to promote sustainable practices. The mention of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) also pushes for more responsible production and consumption of commodities like coffee.
6. SDG 13: Climate Action
   • This is the primary theme of the article. It discusses the disproportionate impact of climate change on smallholder farmers and the urgent need for climate adaptation and resilience. The article focuses on channeling “climate finance” to support “resilient, low-carbon practices” and build farmers’ “capacity to recover from climate shocks.”
7. SDG 15: Life on Land
   • The article promotes practices that protect terrestrial ecosystems, such as “agroforestry (integrating trees with crops or pasture land),” distributing “shade trees,” building “healthier soils,” and promoting “organic agroforestry practices that boosts biodiversity.” It also addresses the issue of deforestation through the EUDR.
8. SDG 17: Partnerships for the Goals
   • The article explicitly calls for multi-stakeholder action, stating that “Governments, funders, nonprofits, and businesses must all take concrete action.” It showcases successful partnerships, like the one between Root Capital (a nonprofit), Keurig Dr Pepper (a business), and farmer cooperatives, as a model for achieving sustainable development.

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

1. Target 1.5: By 2030, build the resilience of the poor and those in vulnerable situations and reduce their exposure and vulnerability to climate-related extreme events and other economic, social and environmental shocks and disasters.
   • The article directly supports this target by focusing on building “farmer resilience” and enhancing their “capacity to recover from climate shocks.” The impact study showing 64% of farmers reported greater capacity to recover from these shocks is a direct measure of progress toward this target.
2. Target 2.3: By 2030, double the agricultural productivity and incomes of small-scale food producers, in particular women, indigenous peoples, family farmers, pastoralists and fishers, including through secure and equal access to land, other productive resources and inputs, knowledge, financial services, markets and opportunities for value addition and non-farm employment.
   • The article aligns with this target by advocating for increased financial support and market access for smallholder farmers. The finding that “68% of farmers affiliated with these businesses reported higher incomes” demonstrates a direct contribution to this target.
3. Target 2.4: By 2030, ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, that help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other disasters and that progressively improve land and soil quality.
   • The article details the implementation of such practices, including “regenerative farming practices,” “agroforestry,” “organic pest management,” “soil conservation,” and the use of “organic fertilizer from local agricultural byproducts.”
4. Target 5.a: Undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to ownership and control over land and other forms of property, financial services, inheritance and natural resources, in accordance with national laws.
   • The financing provided to the “Rebuild Women’s Hope Cooperative,” which works with over 3,000 women farmers, is a direct action toward increasing women’s access to economic and financial resources.
5. Target 13.1: Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries.
   • The entire article is framed around this target, with its central argument being the need to invest in agricultural enterprises to build “climate-resilient livelihoods” and help farmers adapt to “increasing droughts, extreme weather, and crop disease outbreaks.”
6. Target 13.a: Implement the commitment undertaken by developed-country parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to a goal of mobilizing jointly $100 billion annually by 2020 from all sources to address the needs of developing countries in the context of meaningful mitigation actions and transparency on implementation and fully operationalize the Green Climate Fund through its capitalization as soon as possible.
   • The article highlights a major failure in meeting this commitment by pointing out the “climate finance gap,” where smallholder farmers receive “less than 1% of global climate finance” despite their needs. It calls for closing this gap.
7. Target 15.2: By 2020, promote the implementation of sustainable management of all types of forests, halt deforestation, restore degraded forests and substantially increase afforestation and reforestation globally.
   • The article supports this target through examples like the cooperative that “distributes more than 10,000 shade trees annually” and the discussion of the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), which aims to “eliminate deforestation from tropical commodities.”
8. Target 17.17: Encourage and promote effective public, public-private and civil society partnerships, building on the experience and resourcing strategies of partnerships.
   • The partnership between Root Capital, Keurig Dr Pepper, and farmer cooperatives is presented as a model for effective private-nonprofit collaboration. The article’s concluding call for “Governments, funders, nonprofits, and businesses” to act together reinforces this target.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

Yes, the article mentions several quantitative and qualitative indicators that can be used to measure progress:

• Financial Flows: The amount of climate finance directed to smallholder farmers. The article provides a baseline (“less than 1% of global climate finance”), a negative indicator ($5.53 billion received vs. $369 billion spent by farmers on adaptation), and a positive example (“$73.6 million in climate finance” disbursed by Root Capital in 2024).
• Farmer Income: The percentage of farmers reporting increased income. The article states, “68% of farmers affiliated with these businesses reported higher incomes.”
• Climate Resilience: The percentage of farmers reporting increased capacity to handle climate shocks. The article mentions, “64% reported greater capacity to recover from climate shocks.”
• Reach and Scale: The number of farmers, enterprises, and communities reached by these initiatives. Examples include reaching “237,000 farmers” through “109 agricultural enterprises” and working with “over 3,000 women coffee farmers” in a single cooperative.
• Adoption of Sustainable Practices: The implementation of specific climate-resilient and regenerative practices. An indicator mentioned is the number of trees distributed for agroforestry: “more than 10,000 shade trees annually” by one cooperative.
• Corporate Engagement: The number and quality of partnerships between corporations and agricultural enterprises to build resilient supply chains, such as the 25-year partnership between KDP and Root Capital.

4. Table of SDGs, Targets, and Indicators

Source: businessfightspoverty.org