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Highlights of the webinar on “climate-resilient agriculture, virtual breakfast club”

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The following are timestamps of the meeting conducted on 4th November, 2022, on “Climate resilient agriculture, virtual breakfast club.” 

We organized a discussion with a panel of experts drawn from leading agriculture startups, who focused on the following:

  1. Hurdles for AgTechs to effectively support the climate resilience of Indian smallholder farmers
  2. AgTechs that enable the identification and assessment of climate vulnerability
  3. Barriers to climate resilience of Indian smallholders that technology-enabled startups can help overcome

Click on the timestamps from the webinar stream to hear specific segments.

0:06– 3:10 : Welcome note and Introduction by Partha Ghosh, Senior Manager at MSC’s climate change & sustainability practice, along with the presentation on the climate resilient agriculture, virtual breakfast club

3:13– 04:08 : Graham A.N. Wright, Founder and Group Managing Director, MSC:  Welcoming the speakers and start of the session

04:14– 09:15 : Introduction by the speakers

  1. Akbar Sher Khan: Cofounder, Impagro Farming Solutions 
  2. Rahul Prakash: Founder and CEO, Amalfarm
  3. Vimal Panjwani: Founder and CEO, AgriVijay

10:31– 11:30 : The speakers answered the first question: What are AgTechs doing to help farmers to respond to climate change?

11:40– 15:29 : Akbar Sher Khan of Impagro Farming Solutions responds: “Lots of innovation in identification and assessment has emerged for farmers. There are many technologies like IoT devices for soil data, micro weather stations to record data on a real-time basis, and remote sensing satellites.”

15:47– 21:19 : Rahul Prakash of Amalfarm responds: “We encourage farmers to adopt climate-resilient crops to cope with uncertainties in weather.”

21:40–25:25 : Vimal Panjwani of Agrivijay responds: “75% of farmers are smallholder farmers. As AgTechs, we work on the ground and have many devices for weather forecast, which can help farmers with proper harvesting.”

25:30– 26:41 : The speakers answer the second question: How do we make AgTech services available to poor smallholder farmers?

26:48–29:19 :  Vimal Panjwani of Agrivijay responds: “AgTechs face the challenge of making technology affordable and accessible for farmers.”

29:40– 33:49 : Rahul Prakash of Amalfarm responds: “An advisory must have localization as per the location… otherwise, it will fail to find adoption from farmers.”

34:23– 39:30 : Akbar Sher Khan of Impagro Farming Solutions responds: “No matter how good your tech is, it all comes down to the human side of your business.”

44:07– 44:54 : The speakers answer the third question: How can value chain players be involved in driving the adoption of nature-based solutions and carbon credits?

44:46– 48:45 : Rahul Prakash of Amalfarm responds: When a carbon farming plugin is added with the context of Indian agriculture and issues arise in the absence of farmer ownership of the land.

48:53 – 52:57 : Akbar Sher Khan of Impagro Farming Solutions responds: “The carbon credit story to farmers is a fantasy … what we say is “the next generation will reap the benefits because your farms, your soil will survive.”

53:04– 56:08 : Vimal Panjwani of Agrivijay responds: “The value proposition for a farmer is increasing their income and decreasing expenses… so you have to link with that.”

56:10– 59:26 : Conclusion and note of thanks by Partha Ghosh, Senior Manager at MSC’s climate change & sustainability practice

59:29– 59:58 : Closing note by Graham A.N. Wright, Founder and Group Managing Director of MSC

Kenya plans to unlock micro, small & medium enterprises (MSME) financing

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Highlights of the webinar on “Can G2P unlock women’s economic empowerment?”

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  • 2:15- 10:43: Pawan Bakhshi, India Country Lead for Financial Services for the Poor program, BMGF: Welcome note and opening remarks—Can G2P unlock women’s economic empowerment?
  • 11:42- 24:09: Aparajita Singh, Manager, MSC: Introduction to MSC’s research on G2P’s potential in unlocking women’s economic empowerment—evidence from Asia and Africa
  • 25:03-26:05: Graham A.N. Wright, Founder and Group Managing Director, MSC: Context of the discussion and introduction to the panelists
  • 26:10-36:46: Sophie Sirtaine, CEO, CGAP: Response to question 1—Global evidence suggests gender norms create barriers. You wrote in a recent blog that one of CGAP’s calls to action after COVID-19 was to advance new partnerships beyond traditional financial inclusion stakeholders to address restrictive gender norms. How is CGAP developing these partnerships?
  • 37:27-44:53: Diva Dhar, Deputy Director (Data & Evidence), Women’s Economic Empowerment, BMGF: Response to question 1—What are some of the current challenges around collecting gender-disaggregated data, and what are the future pathways to close the gaps in data?
  • 45:01-51:37: Alicia Hammond, Gender and Digital Specialist, World Bank: Response to question 1—What are some of the World Bank’s priorities in terms of G2P programming globally? What is its approach to bringing government stakeholders to the table, especially when discussing the inclusion of vulnerable people?
  • 51:55-1:00:30: Wanza Mbole Namboya, Senior Economic Inclusion Advisor & Gender Lead, FSD Kenya: Response to question 1—Your work at FSD Kenya has shown much of the growth in financial inclusion in Kenya has come from women’s uptake of mobile phones. Yet the gender gap for internet use remains. What constraints deter the usage of internet services in Kenya?
  • 1:01:00-1:06:30: Sophie Sirtaine, CEO, CGAP: Response to question 2—Like most beneficiaries, women prefer to have more choices to access and withdraw G2P funds. How can G2P choice architecture circumvent, negate, or even leverage social norms to benefit them?
  • 1:07:03-1:10:40: Diva Dhar, Deputy Director (Data & Evidence), Women’s Economic Empowerment, BMGF: Response to question 2—Data collection is often a routine top-down approach that is static in terms of timelines, such as baseline, mid-line, end-line, and use—data often sits on the shelf. How can we incorporate more dynamic partnerships for data in this space?
  • 1:10:46-1:15:21: Wanza Mbole Namboya, Senior Economic Inclusion Advisor & Gender Lead, FSD Kenya: Response to question 2—Your work has shown how inclusive finance can help increase resilience among Kenyans. What lessons can governments take from Kenya on incorporating innovative financial products to deliver G2P funds?
  • 1:15:41-1:18:58: Alicia Hammond, Gender and Digital Specialist, World Bank: Response to question 2—How can we tailor G2P programs in the future to maximize their positive impact on women? Where have we made progress, and what are the remaining major challenges?
  • 1:19:30-1:30:31: Graham A.N. Wright, Founder and Group Managing Director, MSC: Q&A with the panelists and closing remarks

Can G2P unlock women’s economic empowerment? Evidence from Asia and Africa

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The presentation showcases evidence from Asia and Africa on G2P’s role in enhancing women’s economic empowerment. We found that G2P programs have an overwhelmingly positive impact on households and on women’s agency in these families. Although pervasive, social norms vary across geographies and have a strong hold on G2P delivery. Besides digital and financial access, the availability and use of gender-disaggregated data and global study on social norms is the need of the hour.

DBT diagnostic study: Female beneficiaries’ experience of receiving DBT

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The presentation reveals evidence from India on female beneficiaries’ experience of receiving G2P (DBT) in India. An overwhelming majority of women reported that G2P programs benefited both them and their households. Yet a few women struggled to move outside their homes independently and lacked agency over the G2P payment, which hurt their perception of G2P transfers. Meanwhile, a small percentage thought that the cost to avail of the program benefits was higher than the benefit itself.

How do norms around control impact women’s access to DBT?

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A third of female beneficiaries lack control over their household spending.

  • Most beneficiaries hand over the DBT funds to their spouse or families
  • More than 20% report that someone they know has faced physical or sexual abuse if they do not hand over funds
  • In many cases, beneficiaries are coerced or threatened into handing over funds 

Watch the video to understand how social norms limit women’s agency over G2P funds.