Cracking the Nut: Lessons from the 2011 Conference

Developing country populations are rising, commodity prices are fluctuating widely with economic globalization, food insecurity is increasing and the climate is warming. These are some of the issues that spurred the interest in the learning event, held on June 20-21, 2011 in Washington, D.C. Named after its core objective, the conference, Cracking the Nut: Overcoming Obstacles to Rural and Agricultural Finance, focused discussions around five themes:

1. Making Markets Work for Rural and Agricultural Finance
2. Forging Agricultural Finance Innovations
3. Reducing Costs of Rural Outreach
4. Managing Risks
5. Attracting Private Sector Investors

This publication is a synthesis of the contributions made by more than 300 participants from 40 countries and presents the findings of the 2011 Cracking the Nut: Overcoming Obstacles to Rural and Agricultural Finance conference.