{"id":18439,"date":"2025-07-31T10:54:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-31T14:54:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.inesad.edu.bo\/?p=18439"},"modified":"2025-08-01T09:28:16","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T13:28:16","slug":"javier-aliaga-of-inesad-presents-regional-strategy-for-agricultural-resilience-at-the-strengthening-agricultural-resilience-for-the-global-south-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.inesad.edu.bo\/en\/2025\/07\/31\/javier-aliaga-of-inesad-presents-regional-strategy-for-agricultural-resilience-at-the-strengthening-agricultural-resilience-for-the-global-south-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"Javier Aliaga of INESAD presents regional strategy for agricultural resilience at the ‘Strengthening Agricultural Resilience for the Global South’ Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"

Javier Aliaga Lordemann, Senior Associate Economist at INESAD, participated as a speaker in the virtual conference titled “Strengthening Agricultural Resilience for the Global South”<\/em>, held on July 31, 2025. The event was jointly organized by the ICRISAT Center of Excellence for South-South Cooperation in Agriculture (ISSCA) and DAKSHIN\u2013Global South Centre of Excellence at RIS. His intervention was part of the session titled \u201cBuilding Climate-Resilient Agriculture Through South\u2013South Collaboration: Unlocking Finance in LATAM.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

His presentation was structured in three parts. First, he provided a regional diagnostic of the challenges and opportunities facing climate-resilient agriculture in Latin America, highlighting key data and trends. Second, he analyzed successful models of South-South cooperation and innovative finance mechanisms being piloted in the region, including green bonds, concessional funds, and blended finance. Finally, he proposed a forward-looking agenda focused on scaling up financing and institutional partnerships to support sustainable agriculture, especially for smallholder farmers, in the face of climate change.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The following is an overview of Javier Aliaga\u2019s key intervention at the Conference<\/p>\n

\u201cStrategic Support \u2013 Why It Matters\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

So let me start by giving you the big picture of why this kind of strategic support is so crucial \u2014 especially for agriculture, and especially in countries like Bolivia and across the Andes. We all know agriculture is on the frontlines of climate change. It\u2019s one of the most vulnerable sectors, but here\u2019s the disconnect: it only gets about 5% of total global climate finance. That\u2019s tiny. And when you consider that the sector actually needs over a trillion dollars annually<\/strong> to meet adaptation and resilience goals, the scale of the problem becomes clear. But it\u2019s not just about global numbers \u2014 it\u2019s about who\u2019s getting left out.<\/p>\n

In Bolivia, for example, smallholder farmers are already dealing with serious challenges: droughts, unpredictable rainfall, heat stress, crop failures. Yet most of them don\u2019t have access to even the most basic tools \u2014 no climate insurance, no tailored credit, no formal risk protections. So, when climate shocks hit, there\u2019s nothing to fall back on.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where strategic instruments come into play. I\u2019m talking about catalytic finance \u2014 using public money to bring in private investment \u2014 or blended finance models like the Climate-Compatible Agricultural Transition approach. Tools like index-based insurance can make a huge difference, and well-designed public-private partnerships can really unlock new value. But here’s the key:<\/strong> none of this works in isolation. You need a whole ecosystem. We need a virtuous triangle.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

There are three building blocks: finance, policy and budgets, and institutional capacity. These have to move together. If one is missing, the whole system stalls. In the end, it\u2019s not just about increasing climate finance \u2014 it\u2019s about making sure the money flows where it matters most, reaches the most vulnerable, and is backed by the right institutions and incentives. Strategic support is what connects those dots.<\/p>\n

\u201cFinancial & Institutional Gaps in Bolivia\u2019s Ag Resilience Ecosystem\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now let\u2019s zoom in on Bolivia, and what\u2019s holding the country back from building a truly resilient agricultural sector. First, on finance: there are some encouraging signs, program and projects \u2014 that shows political will. But when it comes to accessing bigger international funds, like the Green Climate Fund, Bolivia is still largely on the margins. What\u2019s missing is a platform that brings everyone together \u2014 government, private sector, cooperatives \u2014 to actually align and scale up financing.<\/p>\n

Then we get to policy. The reality is that incentives for climate-smart agriculture are either too weak or don\u2019t exist. There aren\u2019t meaningful tax benefits or subsidies for sustainable farming. And worse, national and local policies often don\u2019t talk to each other. So even when there is some support, it\u2019s fragmented and unpredictable for farmers.<\/p>\n

Now, on institutions \u2014 this is a major challenge. Responsibilities are spread out across ministries, banks, municipalities \u2014 and they\u2019re rarely coordinated. That makes it really hard to implement a unified resilience strategy that combines finance with technical and policy support.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s also talk about risk. Bolivia doesn\u2019t really have a strong insurance culture for agriculture. Index-based insurance isn\u2019t widespread, risk-pooling barely exists, and most smallholders are left totally exposed when climate disasters hit. No protection means falling into debt or dropping out of farming altogether.<\/p>\n

And finally, the private sector. Yes, we\u2019re seeing some green shoots \u2014 a few agritech startups, some social enterprises \u2014 but they\u2019re underfunded. There\u2019s very little patient capital or blended finance to help them grow and reach rural areas.<\/p>\n

So, what does all this mean? Even with promising programs, Bolivia still lacks the financial architecture to scale resilience. But there\u2019s a real opportunity through South\u2013South collaboration \u2014 learning from countries like Peru, Brazil, or India to build new financing models that are adapted to Bolivia\u2019s reality. Building resilience isn\u2019t just about the money. It\u2019s about building a system where finance, policy, and institutions reinforce each other \u2014 and where smallholders are at the center of it all.<\/p>\n

Designing a South\u2013South Strategic Support Framework<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now, let\u2019s talk solutions. What we\u2019re proposing here is a regional framework \u2014 a South\u2013South model to support climate-smart agriculture, especially in the Andes. It\u2019s designed to scale impact by tackling finance, policy, and institutional gaps together. It\u2019s built around six pillars \u2014 let me walk you through them briefly.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

First, a Regional Finance Observatory. This would be a kind of dashboard \u2014 tracking where climate finance is going, where the gaps are, and how public and private actors are aligning. It gives governments and donors real-time data to act more strategically.<\/p>\n

Second, a Blended Finance Toolkit. This would help ministries design the kinds of financial instruments they need \u2014 things like concessional loans, seed capital, guarantees \u2014 adapted to their own capacities. The idea is to reduce risk for private investors and unlock financing for things like regenerative ag, agroforestry, or digital solutions.<\/p>\n

Third, we propose Cross-Regional Policy Labs. These would bring together peers \u2014 say, from Bolivia, Peru, and India \u2014 to co-create climate-smart policies. We\u2019re talking about soil health incentives, subsidy reforms, tax instruments \u2014 with rapid prototyping and real-world testing.<\/p>\n

Fourth is a Seed Insurance Facility \u2014 one that works across borders and supports the creation of affordable, index-based products for smallholders. Think of it like a regional risk pool that makes insurance both scalable and viable.<\/p>\n

Then we have an Agri-Tech Investment Platform. This would connect impact investors with agrifood startups and cooperatives, using KPIs \u2014 like carbon sequestration or yield improvement \u2014 to measure results. Models like ACORN or Kilimo show us this can work at scale.<\/p>\n

And finally, a Monitoring and Evaluation System. It would track not just how much is spent, but what\u2019s actually working. It uses both tech \u2014 like satellite imagery \u2014 and local data to feed back into decision-making.<\/p>\n

Why does this framework matter? Because it\u2019s regional, it\u2019s practical, and it avoids top-down, one-size-fits-all approaches. It builds capacity from within the South, and it brings in the kind of capital and policy alignment we need to make real change happen \u2014 especially for the smallholder farmers who are most exposed to climate risk.<\/p>\n

Photos: <\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Javier Aliaga Lordemann, Senior Associate Economist at INESAD, participated as a speaker in the virtual conference titled “Strengthening Agricultural Resilience for the Global South”, held on July 31, 2025. The event was jointly organized by the ICRISAT Center of Excellence for South-South Cooperation in Agriculture (ISSCA) and DAKSHIN\u2013Global South Centre of Excellence at RIS. His …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":18452,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[430,428],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18439","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-news","category-sin-categorizar"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.inesad.edu.bo\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/javier-aliaga-2.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9wqBX-4Np","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inesad.edu.bo\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inesad.edu.bo\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inesad.edu.bo\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inesad.edu.bo\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inesad.edu.bo\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18439"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.inesad.edu.bo\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18439\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18456,"href":"https:\/\/www.inesad.edu.bo\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18439\/revisions\/18456"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inesad.edu.bo\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.inesad.edu.bo\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inesad.edu.bo\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.inesad.edu.bo\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}