TIFS is building collective intelligence to activate investors for regenerative and agroecological food systems

We do this by: 

• Providing peer-to-peer learning, network effects, and advisory services to impact investors who are seeking systemic solutions.

• Supporting our investor community through innovative thought leadership and investment guidance including facilitating ”Missing Middle” workshops, regional pilots and demonstration projects; convening virtual conversations to address immediate investment opportunities; host side sessions at investor conferences, and co-create investment screening methodologies that increase transparency of investment impacts.

Leveraging our networks, thought leadership, and methodologies, we are building investing ecosystems in two regions: East Africa and North America, while continuing to build upon our strong body of global work through our partnerships with the Global Alliance for the Future of Food and the Agroecology Fund. We build these ecosystems with multiple, coordinated activities to accelerate the development of agroecological and regenerative markets and finance.

East Africa:

To grow the ecosystem of mission-driven investors in East Africa, TIFS is partnering with Biovision Foundation, Shona, and Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) to create a community of practice of investors with a focus on East Africa, engaging the Council on Smallholder Agriculture Finance (CSAF) and its members around financing the agroecological transformation of food systems, convening workshops that foster investor engagement and spark actions for investing in agroecology, and developing prototype investment mechanisms.

In 2023, TIFS led a study in partnership with Biovision Foundation, SHONA, and AFSA  to map the intended outcomes of relevant impact funds operating in East Africa to demonstrate potential gaps and externalities of investment funds on food systems.TIFS is using this data to engage fund managers, investors, entrepreneurs, and service providers in identifying and prioritizing actions that will enhance funds’ collective impacts on regional food systems.

US Midwest:

Based on two years of work engaging with diverse stakeholders through our “Missing Middle” conversations, TIFS is currently identifying catalytic investment opportunities and identifying innovative finance opportunities that accelerate farmer centric paths for regenerative transitions in Midwest landscapes.

TIFS is undertaking a Regenerative Agricultural Systems Review and Innovative Finance Opportunity Assessment to identify specific opportunities for greater cohesion and coherent financing strategies for collective efforts in a landscape. Working in close coordination with many partners, we will identify opportunities for stakeholders to reduce redundancy, identify critical investments, and unlock additional capital to deepen the regenerative outcomes of resources that are currently being deployed.

TIFS is leading conversations with social entrepreneurs who are experiencing systemic barriers to full implementation, with an emphasis on farmer/rancher/producer outcomes. Through the development of an ecosystem of entrepreneurs, the work will make the case for existing investable opportunities that enable systemic changes, and identify opportunities for new investments that accelerate additional regenerative transitions.

Blue Foods:

Building on three “Missing Middle” convenings co-organized by TIFS in 2024, we are exploring the challenges and opportunities of deeper investment in the blue economy. Alongside our partners in this space, TIFS is engaged in activities aimed at narrowing the gap between the financing needs of community-based and sustainable blue foods businesses and the investment requirements of a broad spectrum of capital providers. 

TIFS plans to organize additional dialogues among investors, companies, and communities, adapting systemic investing frameworks for the blue foods industry, developing case studies that demonstrate the business models and financial mechanisms that contribute to the positive outcomes of sustainable blue foods, and organizing regional cohorts of values-aligned frontrunner investors, companies, and community members who are ready to take action and co-design appropriate financing mechanisms.