This message from our Executive Director was shared in the Grow Asia monthly newsletter. Subscribe to our newsletter below to get more frequent updates on our priorities, and activities.
Martin Divisek/EPA, via Shutterstock
As we settle into 2024, I am filled with a sense of impatient optimism. My broad reflection after COP28 and the conversations in Davos this week is that we have turned a corner – for the first time, food systems transformation is now recognized as a global priority for climate action.
However, I see significant gaps between the international commitments as cited in the Emirates Declaration on Sustainable Agriculture and their realization at a country level and at the farm gate. The work starts now to convert these commitments into action.
Thanks to you, our partners, Grow Asia has built a robust foundation from which we can accelerate the transition to a more inclusive, resilient, and sustainable food system. In 2024, our goal is to work with you to consolidate, focus, and scale these efforts through our four public-private programs and funds: GrowVentures, GrowHer, GrowRight, and GrowBeyond.
Technology and Finance at Scale
We know the only way to deliver transformation at scale is to increase equitable access to both technology and finance to the millions of SMEs and smallholder farmers who lie at the heart of our agri-food ecosystem.
To do this, we must double down on our partnership efforts to forge effective global > regional > country impact pathways, connecting people, technology, and financial services in a way that offers a ‘win-win’ for all. This is the only route to achieving impactful global change at scale.
We must also continue to challenge silos by disrupting the fragmentation that is now our biggest barrier to scalable outcomes. The value of isolated, satellite and bilateral partnerships has waned. The time has come to work together to harvest the learnings from these projects by creating strategic, multi-stakeholder mechanisms that integrate the limited resources of individual actors - governments, companies, philanthropies, and civil society to deliver impact that is greater than the sum of their parts. With effective coordination, this approach will both streamline and amplify efforts to deliver sustainable economic growth across the region.
At Grow Asia, we are committed to equipping the millions of enterprises in Southeast Asia that are integral to the sustainability of our future with the technology and financial services they need. We cannot do this without the ongoing support of our 660+ partners and I look forward to working with you this year to transform dialogue into opportunities, and commitment into action.
Warm regards,
Beverley Postma
Executive Director
Grow Asia