A wide variety of investors including national governments, bi-lateral and multi-lateral donors, private financial institutions, agribusiness, farmer organizations, impact investors, and non-profit organizations finance components of integrated landscapes. Yet most of these investors focus on a single objective within a landscape such as agricultural production, ecosystem management, rural development, or climate change adaptation or mitigation. Very few investments are designed to achieve multiple objectives within landscapes, and efforts to coordinate finance within landscapes are often insufficient.
The Landscapes for People, Food and Nature Initiative seeks to improve efforts to coordinate finance that is currently available for landscape objectives, stimulate growth in finance available for integrated landscape activities and facilitate landscape champions to articulate the need for such finance. Strategy This objective will first require a comprehensive understanding of the current financing opportunities for Integrated Landscape Management (ILM). Based on this analysis the working group will identify strategies for improving coordination among the sources finance that are currently available to support ILM and for increasing the flow of financing for ILM.
Through analysis of relevant financial institutions throughout the world, along with landscape case studies, we are identifying key actors in integrated landscape finance, key barriers and scenarios in which a compelling financial case can be made for integrated landscape investment from a variety of public and private sector perspectives.
Based on this work, we will recommend strategies for improving and expanding finance for ILM with a focus on three outcomes:
The Finance Working Group is looking for information on innovative integrated landscape financing mechanisms from the private and public sectors, as well as suggestions for countries or national programs that could serve as case studies that could serve as inputs into our current work. We are also interested in engaging representatives from relevant finance institutions to support their efforts. Please contact working group co-chair Seth Shames at sshames@ecoagriculture.org for more information.
