Financing Agrochemical Reduction and Management (FARM), funded by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), is a five-year, $37-million programme, with an additional $341 million in co-financing. FARM is committed to advancing sustainable finance to reduce the reliance on harmful chemicals and agricultural plastics – and to safeguard human health and ecosystems for future generations. Led by UNEP and implemented by ADB, UNDP and UNIDO, FARM works across seven countries – Ecuador, India, Kenya, Lao PDR, the Philippines, Uruguay and Viet Nam – and is coordinated through a Global Child Project hosted by the Green Growth Knowledge Partnership (GGKP).
As food and agricultural commodities demand grows and financial systems still favour chemical inputs, FARM aims to realign incentives and reshape policies to promote access to finance, new markets and nature-positive solutions that help remove highly hazardous pesticides (HHPs) and agricultural plastics from the food value chains. Its work contributes to UNEP’s net-positive agriculture efforts, tackling pollution, biodiversity loss and climate change – the triple planetary crisis.
The FARM Programme Annual Report outlines the key achievements of 2024 and the expectations for 2025:
- The FARM Programme was officially launched in Nairobi, Kenya, on 12 March 2024, with over 70 in-person participants and 100+ virtual attendees from across sectors.
- Six in-country Child Projects had their inception meetings in 2024; the Philippines project is expected to be launched in 2025.
- More than 25 stakeholder meetings, workshops and trainings held last year.
- Over 2,500 people participated in the programme's meetings and trainings.
In 2025, the FARM Programme will focus on scaling successful country-level initiatives, strengthening partnerships and building sustainable systems:
- Intensify in-person and virtual trainings on pesticide and agricultural plastics reduction.
- Launch the programme website.
- Roll out the Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) framework and reporting.
- Expand stakeholder engagement, including the launch of the Programme Advisory Group.