More than 3.3 billion people live in communities that are vulnerable to climate shocks. Interest in adaptation and resilience is growing among investors—yet measuring resilience impacts has remained a challenge.
Resilience is complex, multi-dimensional, highly context specific, and in most cases is only observed if a shock occurs.
In 2023, 60 Decibels launched a new tool to help investors understand how their investees are building household resilience. We tested this tool with 33 agriculture companies in 2023, listening to nearly 5,000 farmers. This report synthesizes what we heard from them.
The findings may be unsurprising to those who know agriculture well. Yet by capturing the voices of farmers, our data validates several commonly-held hypotheses about pathways to resilience. Here are five key insights we learned from farmers.
4 in 5 farmers told us they faced an unexpected weather-related event such as drought, pest outbreaks, or flooding in the past two years. 22% of farmers affected by shocks did nothing to adapt.
Farmers whose access to extension or weather information increased because of their partner company are more likely to report increased perceived resilience to a future shock due to the company. Farmers that receive one service from the company are less likely to report increased resilience than those receiving two or more services.
Farmers who say that they increased their use of soil conservation practices and/or biological pest control because of the company are more likely to say that the company helped them to prepare for and recover from a recent shock.
Among farmers reporting increased income due to the company, 68-86% report increased perceived resilience. For farmers reporting no change in earnings, 25-36% report increased resilience, reflecting that income alone does not drive resilience.
Women report lower access to electricity, credit, insurance, and pest monitoring services, and are less likely to practice biological pest control or soil or water conservation.
“We prepared ahead through precautions and used fungicides for the crop at the right time. It reduced crop damage. As a result, the production has increased, which is financially beneficial for me.”
Male potato farmer, Bangladesh
