Investing in Climate Resilience and Poverty Alleviation: Acumen Founder & CEO Jacqueline Novogratz

In this Climate Rising episode in our series on climate resilience, Jacqueline Novogratz, Founder and CEO of Acumen shares how impact investing is agriculture is helping smallholder farmers build climate resilience. Jacqueline shares insights from two decades of investing in poverty alleviation that includes climate resilience and adaptation social enterprises engaging in agriculture and off-grid solar.  She explains how Acumen uses blended capital, including philanthropic first-loss investments and commercial impact funding, to scale business models in underdeveloped markets where traditional investors hesitate. Jacqueline also shares examples of companies solving food insecurity and extreme climate risks for smallholder farmers and discusses how a “post-aid” world demands new tools, structures, and partnerships for impact investing.