Successes, Failures and Challenges of bringing PDBs to the forefront of a sustainable agricultural adaptation and transition

Achieving financial inclusion in rural areas in low-income (LICs) and lower-middle income countries (LMICs) is critical to reducing poverty and delivering SDGs by 2030. Latest estimates of unmet financing needs of small farmers exceed $170 billion per year across Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) and Latin America. This financing gap would be even larger without the current level of financing provided by public development banks (PDBs). The broad question our paper departs from is whether more PDB finance is the way to go in LICs and LMICs to transform the agricultural sectors towards the SDGs.