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-Anita Campion
President

Cracking the Nut 2012: Attracting Private Sector Investment to Rural and Agricultural Markets is the premier global event to exclusively focus on leveraging public private partnerships to develop rural and agricultural markets and help you identify investment opportunities at all points of the agricultural supply chain.

Cracking the Nut 2012 will share competitively selected best practices through five focused themes:

1. Expand to New Markets. With soaring population rates and rising living standards, agriculture and agribusiness are poised for unparalleled global growth. There is rising demand from growing and increasingly urban populations in developing countries. Sessions under this theme will show you how to identify and serve new markets that offer significant growth and income potential.
2. Tap New Sources of Supply. With increasing consumer awareness of fair trade, organic and specialty foods, many firms are realizing that sustainable sourcing from aggregated small-scale agricultural producers not only appeals to consumers, but also reduces risks in the supply chain and stabilizes prices. Learn how to tap new sources of supply, certify quality, increase productivity and reduce costs while contributing to sustainable production.
3. Create Effective Partnerships. Agribusiness success relies on knowing the market, where and how to source affordable and reliable inputs, and access to financial services in a timely manner, especially in the face of complex economic, environmental and social challenges. This theme will highlight how innovative public-private partnerships can overcome obstacles and facilitate access to information and services in a cost-effective manner.
4. Make Finance Work. Finance and impact investing are expanding in ways that serve rural and agriculture markets, creating competitive, financial and social returns. However, many companies still struggle to make finance work for their suppliers. This theme will showcase innovative approaches to sustainably increase access to finance and investments for rural and agricultural supply chains. Come see how an increasing number of impact investors are designing innovative approaches to sustainably support rural and agricultural markets by combining guarantees, insurance and technical assistance funds to reinforce financial and social impacts of their funds.
5. Leverage Positive Government Support. This theme will demonstrate how to work with governments to create enabling environments that provide proper incentives for players to invest in rural and agricultural businesses and its supporting infrastructure.

For more information, please visit the conference website: www.crackingthenutconference.com

At the Agricultural Value Chain Finance Training, participants will learn value chain concepts and how to assess risks and to identify strategic opportunities to strengthen value chains. The participants will recognize how cohesive value chains can be used to reduce risks and facilitate access to finance. They will also learn how to apply value chain financial products to meet the needs of various actors in the value chain. Learn more and find a training location near you. Please share this opportunity with your colleagues who would benefit from attending the training.

Download the training flyer and agenda

The Cracking the Nut publication Lessons from the 2011 Conference is now available and can be downloaded here. The publication summarizes the key lessons learned from the knowledge generated at the conference. We hope this publication serves to reinvigorate the passion and inspiration you got from the conference to continue cracking the remaining tough nuts of rural and agricultural finance. Please feel free to circulate the publication to others who might also find the resource useful.

Para ver la publicación en español, favor de hacer clic aquí.