What we do

address pressing climate-induced challenges

The CASH Coalition is a collaborative initiative working with smallholder farmers, indigenous communities, and other local populations in the Global South to address pressing climate-induced challenges. We aim to make regenerative agriculture and climate action profitable for smallholders, impart fortitude, agency, and resources to the farming and forest communities we serve, and contribute to rehabilitating and preserving the ecosystems and climate conditions we depend on. 

Photo credit: Root Capital

To achieve our goals, the CASH Coalition has four core action areas:

Informing and Influencing Policymaking: The first priority action involves advocating for policy changes and amplifying the voices of farmers and communities to increase opportunities for smallholders to engage in and be rewarded for climate mitigation activities. The coalition will promote best practices in regenerative agriculture and agroforestry while supporting efforts to reward communities for regenerative and climate actions.

Identifying Profitable and Impactful Practices: The second priority action is to identify and share existing knowledge and best practices, focusing on what has proven effective and has potential for impact, profitability, and scalability. Leveraging research from third parties, the CASH Coalition will make knowledge accessible to members, peers, community organizations, and farming families. Areas of focus include agricultural inputs, practices to improve soil health and productivity, suitable crops for specific contexts, technology advancements, scaling practices, and financing solutions.

Research: The CASH Coalition’s third priority is to act as a catalyst for research to fill gaps limiting the profitability and scalability of regenerative agriculture and related technologies. Collaborating with professional research organizations, the CASH Coalition aims to address challenges to adoption and access to financing models.

Bringing Financing and Carbon-Finance Products to Smallholders: The fourth priority is supporting the development and scaling of credible nature-based carbon credits for smallholders, indigenous groups, and local communities while contributing to an inclusive carbon credit system. The CASH Coalition’s deep roots among land-stewarding communities of the Global South positions it uniquely to create high-quality, nature-based carbon credits that inclusively and directly channel benefits to communities while promoting climate action, poverty mitigation, and sustainable livelihoods at the frontline of climate change. While the voluntary carbon market (VCM) is expanding rapidly, it must confront challenges to its operation and credibility. Moreover, vulnerable communities are largely excluded from shaping the future of the VCM and do not benefit from contemporary carbon trading mechanisms or credits. The CASH coalition will create a portfolio of quality carbon projects that deliver multiple co-benefits while rewarding smallholders and other local communities for climate actions. We propose a four-pillar action plan:

Advocate for reforms to the VCM that enable greater participation and representation for smallholder farmers and promote nature-based solutions as high-integrity solutions in carbon markets.

Create a portfolio of carbon projects that exemplify what a good carbon project should be: high quality, high integrity, and delivering multiple co-benefits, including addressing biodiversity loss, food production, and food security.

Catalyze a coalition of buyers interested in high-integrity carbon credits with co-benefits and lead the structuring of investment vehicles to finance activities on the ground.

Provide technical assistance, information, and education to enable our members to systematically advance the ability of smallholders to participate in, and derive benefits from, carbon markets.