The time for collective action towards greener food systems is now. Sustainable food systems cannot be achieved in the absence of financially empowered and resilient agri-SMEs, which currently struggle to access finance to green their business practices and step up their contribution to greener food systems and a greener planet.

Bringing green finance closer to agri-SMEs requires intense collaboration among SMEs themselves, global green finance providers, local agricultural finance providers, and other institutions with a broad range of expertise. What are the key ingredients to partner with institutions that have different perspectives, capabilities, incentive structures and expectations? We present two areas of focus for more effective partnerships in this space in this learning note: strategic partner selection; and alignment around shared tools and metrics.