Over the three days the conference underscored that while the promise of climate-smart agriculture is strong, its success hinges on integrated, systemic approaches—not simply isolated innovations. Soil health and plant nutrition emerged as foundational; next-generation crops and sustainable livestock systems were flagged as necessary but not sufficient without enabling policies, inclusive institutions and innovative finance. The “synergies with planetary boundaries” track reinforced that CSA must be embedded in broader land-use, biodiversity and ecosystem resilience agendas. Several speakers emphasised that public and private investment must shift toward verifiable climate-smart outcomes (rather than vague “greenwashing” promises), and that farmer-centred design, gender and social inclusion, and digital tools will be critical enablers.
Thematic sessions
Extracts of the main programme
05/11 Opening Panel: Shifting power, scaling solutions: Aligning global food, climate and development agendas
In this session, panellists emphasised that transformative change in agriculture and food systems must go beyond incremental innovation; it requires a recalibration of power dynamics, meaningfully engaging farmers (especially small-holders and women), local institutions and communities in co-design and decision-making, rather than remaining passive recipients. They discussed how scaling solutions for climate-smart agriculture (CSA) demands alignment across global food, climate and development agendas — bridging trade-offs between mitigation/adaptation, food security, livelihoods, ecosystem health and equity. In particular, the panel highlighted three interlinked imperatives: (1) governance — creating inclusive institutions and enabling policies that shift power towards those most impacted; (2) finance and business models — unlocking investments that reward climate-smart outcomes (not just rhetoric) and channel resources into places and actors often marginalised; and (3) systems thinking — recognizing that food systems, climate action and development goals are deeply interconnected, so scaling solutions must work across value chains, landscapes and supply networks.
- Rachel Waterhouse, Resilient Ocean-Coasts, Water and Land Use Systems Lead, FCDO
- Grace Tanno, Minister, Head of the Agricultural Policy Division (DPAGRO), Brazil Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Itamaraty)
- Chris Chilcott, Deputy Director Environment, CSIRO
- Ishmael Sunga, CEO, Southern African Confederation of Agricultural Unions (SACAU)
05/11 From Pilot to Scale – Unlocking Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) in Agriculture
Exploring how different financial and policy instruments can work together to mobilize climate finance in agriculture.
The discussion highlighted four major levers: (i) Measurement and verification — robust monitoring of ecosystem outcomes (e.g., carbon, water, biodiversity) is vital to make payments credible; (ii) Institutional & market design — clear governance, transparent rules, risk allocation (e.g., between buyers, aggregators, farmers) and credible demand (carbon markets, biodiversity credits) are essential; (iii) Inclusive business models — farmers (especially smallholders, women) must be integrated as active partners, not just recipients, with fair benefit sharing and capacity-building; (iv) Scaling pathways and policy enablers — public-sector policies, subsidy reform, enabling regulatory environment and blended finance can unlock up-scaling.
- Moderated by: Rachael Kretsis, Climate and Agriculture Advisor, FCDO
- Gertrude Kambauwa - Director of Land Resources Conservation, Malawi Ministry of Agriculture
- Michael Kwame Nkonu - Head of Portfolio for Agricultural Livelihoods, IKEA Foundation
- Lieven Claessens - Senior Scientist – Carbon Modelling, Olam Agri
06/11 Fact or Fiction? Debunking Myths in Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems
In this interactive panel, participants explored how often-repeated claims in sustainable agriculture and food systems mask complex realities, and sought to distinguish legitimate innovation from oversold hype. The discussion addressed recurring themes such as “climate-smart agriculture can solve everything,” “zero-emission livestock is just around the corner,” or “nature-positive food systems are fully scalable today.” The speakers challenged each myth by contrasting them with empirical evidence and farmer-centred realities—for example, they emphasized that while soil health improvements are critical, the institutional and market barriers often prevent scaling; that livestock systems can reduce emissions but require major shifts in feed, land-use and behaviour; and that “nature-positive” approaches can deliver only if metrics, governance, and inclusive business models are robust. The session concluded that credibility in sustainable agriculture will depend on transparency about trade-offs, robust measurement of outcomes, stronger alignment with smallholder realities, and honest communication about what can — and cannot — be scaled rapidly.
- Facilitator: Luis Rangel, Federal Inspector for Agriculture and Senior Expert for Sustainable Agriculture, MAPA
- Muhammad Ibrahim, Scientist, Climate-Smart Agriculture
- Ana Carolina Zimmerman, Farmer & Youth
- Katja Vuori, CEO, AgriCord
- Omar Farhate, Policy Officer, EmergingAg
07/11 The Private Sector/Business Panel- Innovative financial and business models
This panel explored how private finance can unlock climate-smart agriculture at scale—moving from pilots to bankable, replicable models. Speakers compared instruments such as blended finance, green bonds, sustainability-linked loans, carbon and ecosystem-service credits, and outcome-based contracts. They stressed the nuts-and-bolts: de-risking for early adopters, standardizing MRV to pay for results (not promises), aggregating smallholders so capital can flow efficiently, and aligning incentives across buyers, banks, and farmers. A recurring theme was inclusion—designing models that are investable and workable for farmers (especially SMEs and women), with policy predictability to crowd-in private capital rather than replace it.
- Facilitator: Manuela Maluf Santos, Country Director, Brazil · IDH
- Laurence Jassogne, Head of Nature and Climate Solutions, Olam Agri
- Rodrigo Miguel, CEO of Agrifirm LATAM and member of the Strategic Committee of the Royal Agrifirm Group
- Francila Calica, Head of Agricultural Affairs and Sustainability Latin America, Bayer
- Franck Saint-Martin, Global Public Affairs, Nestle
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