Turning Biogas Residue into Value: A Farmer-Owned Business Model for Bio-PROM in India

In India, the prolonged and excessive use of chemical fertilisers has contributed to soil compaction, soil acidification, loss of humus, declining soil health and environmental damage. At the same time, biogas slurry, a locally available by-product of household biogas plants, often remains underutilised. The Bio-PROM business model developed under the ProSoil project in Sindhudurg, Maharashtra, addresses both challenges by converting residue from biogas plants into phosphate-rich organic manure through a farmer-owned enterprise model. The approach links biogas-user farmers and Farmer Producer Organizations in one system. Farmers produce dry cake from biogas slurry, the Farmer Producer Organizations buy it back, processes it with rock phosphate and liquid organic fertiliser, and sells Bio-PROM to member farmers at reasonable prices, while surplus can be marketed outside the project area. The model improves soil fertility, reduces dependence on chemical phosphate fertilisers and creates an additional income stream for farmers.

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Closing the Urban-Rural Nutrient Loop: A Farmer-Led Urban Compost Business Model in Maharashtra, India

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Multi-stakeholder partnerships for the adoption of agroecological and climate-smart approaches in the cereal sector

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Macroeconomic modelling to evaluate and justify adaptation investments

Finance and planning ministries decide budgets on GDP, jobs and avoided costs. Physical climate projections describe hazards; adaptation wins budget share when its case is made in economic terms. Water matters most here: floods, droughts and falling water availability are the main routes by which climate risk reaches farms, power plants, factories and households. The GIZ programme Policy Advice for Climate Resilient Economic Development (CRED) built national economic models for Kazakhstan, Georgia, Mongolia, Nigeria and Vietnam. Each model treats water as an input to every sector, so the knock-on effects of a drought show up in one run. Each adaptation measure is tested for avoided losses, GDP, jobs and emissions under low, medium and high emission pathways. A measure counts as robust when it pays off under all three. Five models were built and handed to national institutions.

From economic evidence to adaptation investment pipeline: macroeconomic-modelling-informed project design

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University-embedded diagnostics and a research-to-practice cycle for agroecological transition

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Multi-actor co-construction of a nationally adopted agroecology strategy

Bolivia’s agri-food sector needed a national policy framework for the shift to agroecology. Producer organisations and the ministry worked with overlapping mandates while drought and other climate-water stress cut production. The strategy’s own diagnosis counts 600,000 people in drought-exposed zones and projects agricultural GDP losses of 12 to 21 percent. Under the Ministry of Rural Development and Lands, a multi-actor steering committee (Comité Impulsor) gave national producer and consumer platforms a seat in steering the National Agroecology Strategy (ENA). A national coordination unit for ecological production (UC-CNAPE) served as secretariat. A separate cooperation committee channelled partner support. Four national, five regional and three technical consultations covered all five macroregions. The strategy governs soil and water functions, watershed protection and reduced agrochemical pollution of water sources. A ministerial resolution approved it on 16 September 2025.

Spontaneous Initiatives for Regional Development Aimed at Sustainable Management of Natural Resources

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Farmer-led agroecology and seed systems strengthening agrobiodiversity in Ghana

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Strengthening agroforestry enterprises through cooperative governance in Vietnam

Binh Minh Agroforestry Cooperative (BMAC) in Yen Bai Province, Vietnam, shows how strong internal governance can turn a small farmer group into a viable forestry enterprise. Established in 2017 with support from the Forest and Farm Facility and the Vietnam Farmers’ Union, BMAC grew from 7 to 18 member households and now works with more than 2,000 forest-growing households managing about 8,000 hectares, including 6,000 hectares certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. Clear leadership, elected governance bodies, transparent financial management, regular communication, risk management and continuous learning enabled the cooperative to invest in processing, diversify products and build partnerships with companies and government. From 2018 to 2022, BMAC generated about VND (Vietnamese dong) 64 billion in revenue and VND 6 billion in profit, while creating jobs and expanding access to higher-value markets. Remaining challenges include unequal dividend sharing, limited member participation and access to capital.

Mobilizing internal finance within a forest and farm producer organization in Ghana

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Mobilizing farmer-led cooperative finance for family farming in Brazil

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Supporting farmer-led agroforestry adoption in Atsinanana, Madagascar

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