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Food systems under stress: Building resilience from the first mile

Small-scale farmers are increasingly facing climate, economic and geopolitical shocks at the same time. Drought and water stress can coincide with rising energy and fertilizer costs, while disruptions to markets and finance can further constrain farmers’ ability to respond. These pressures interact, with one shock reducing the capacity of rural households and food systems to withstand the next.

  • Publication | 2026
Global Food and Nutrition Security

Developed by IFAD in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of the Republic of Türkiye (MoAF) for COP31, this report shows why resilience must be built through more integrated investment. Evidence from five IFAD-financed investments in Türkiye, Kenya, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Burkina Faso demonstrates how connecting resilient inputs, functioning markets and appropriate finance can strengthen farmers’ ability to withstand and recover from shocks. The report’s illustrative modelling reinforces the case: bundling all three pillars can avoid 18.7 per cent of net farm income losses under a modelled compound shock, compared with 9.8 per cent for the strongest individual lever. 

The report calls on governments, investors and development partners to design for interacting risks rather than individual shocks, connecting the technologies and inputs farmers need with the finance to adopt them and the markets that make those investments viable.

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Geographic coverageBangladeshBurkina FasoIndonesiaKenya
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09 Nov 2026

Related organisation(s)IFAD - International Fund for Agricultural Development
Knowledge service | MetadataGlobal Food and Nutrition Security | Sustainable Food Systems | Food systems transformationSmallholder farmer
Digital Europa Thesaurus (DET)resilienceextreme weatherdisaster risk reductionpolicymaking
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