One of the many lessons we’ve learned in our ongoing battle with COVID-19 is that we must find new solutions to achieve the SDGs. Small-scale producers continue to face multiple challenges – both those caused by the pandemic and those that were there before – and supporting these producers and bringing about sustainable transformation of our food systems will require unprecedented innovation.
IFAD believes in the tremendous innovative capacity of rural youth – and we take seriously our responsibility to support young people in their constant search for change and innovation. That’s why this year’s Rural Youth Innovation Award in Latin America and the Caribbean, a project financed by the China-IFAD SSTC Facility, focused on initiatives led by young people fighting the pandemic.
We received over 130 applications from 15 countries across the region. The initiatives focused on a wide range of topics, including market access, recycling and alternative energy solutions, connectivity, financial inclusion, and gender equity.
After months of deliberation, we chose nine of those initiatives to receive the Award. This is a glimpse into their stories.
The AGROUNE initiative, from Colombia, has developed a low-risk agricultural investment platform designed to make sure small-scale farmers won’t get left behind. The money they’ve raised – over 480 million Colombian pesos (about US$126,000) over the last two years – goes on to support rural small-scale producers’ production and marketing efforts, allowing them to obtain fair and profitable prices for their products.
Here, AGROUNE CEO Weimar Mesa (left) poses with a farmer who has been able to expand his production of passionfruit thanks to the financial support he’s received from the platform.