Economic Wellbeing

We believe that smallholder farmers, who rely on agriculture for their incomes, should be able to earn a decent living and support their families. But too often, farmers go hungry. While smallholder farmers produce 30% of the world’s food supply, they often live in poverty and face food insecurity. This is driven by limited access to land; a lack of resources to buy the ​inputs, technology and tools they need to farm; barriers to profitable markets where they can sell their products at a fair price; and the ongoing impacts of climate change. Specific to climate change, smallholder farmers are among the most threatened, yet they receive less than 1% of global climate finance.   

As a result of these systemic barriers, smallholder farmers are often unable to meet the market demand to make a sustainable income and instead focus their efforts on producing just enough food for their households. Any small surplus is sold for money to be used towards other essential needs like healthcare or education.  

Agricultural enterprises play a critical role in the livelihoods of smallholder farmers by providing access to capital, training, collective bargaining power, access to markets, and other services. Through our investments in organizations and cooperatives in the agriculture sector in Africa, Latin America, and Haiti, we help create opportunities for smallholder farmers to own land, produce more food, access markets, and secure the financing they need to start and sustain their businesses. We support strategies that champion evidence-driven agricultural practices that increase production and profitability for smallholder farmers.  

Creating equitable and resilient food systems is vital to supporting the livelihoods of the millions of small-scale agricultural producers and the billions more who rely on the food they produce. By investing in agricultural livelihoods, we strive to help people unlock their full potential and lift themselves and their communities out of poverty.

We envision a world in which women are seen and valued for their contributions to the economy. Women represent 43% of global agricultural workforce and more than 80% in some countries. Despite playing an essential role in global agricultural systems, they commonly face significant discrimination in land ownership, educational opportunities, access to credit, equal pay, and participation in decision-making. These structural barriers are compounded by the unequal burden of domestic work — woman often must balance household responsibilities and childcare in addition to family-sustaining agricultural work.

Guided by our partners and the communities they serve, Wagner’s investments focus on ensuring women have equitable access to inputs and competitive markets to sell their products. Additionally, we aim to help establish technical assistance support responsive to their unique needs and create gender-responsive agricultural value chains at all levels.

Wealth is more than income — it’s ownership, stability, and the ability to shape one’s future. Yet systemic barriers have made it difficult for low-income communities and communities of color to build generational wealth through home and small business ownership. In Greater Boston, we face an affordability crisis. Rising commercial rents and real estate speculation continue to push out small businesses and long-time residents, widening the growing wealth gap.

We support efforts that increase access to capital for historically excluded entrepreneurs; expand community control of land through models like community land trusts; and strengthen local small businesses through technical assistance and strategies for long-term growth and sustainability. By prioritizing local ownership, we work to ensure that development benefits residents, not just investors, and that wealth remains in the communities that create it.