logo clim-eat
Get involved

High-Level Panel for
a Just Rural Transition

A new coalition to repurpose agricultural public support for our food, our climate, and farmers’ futures.

Every year, governments spend over $800 billion on agricultural subsidies. For every dollar spent, farmers receive just 35 cents of value in return. 87% of that public support actively distorts markets and drives environmental harm — fueling soil degradation, water pollution, and 14% of global forest loss annually.
The High-Level Panel for a Just Rural Transition exists to change that.

Why This, Why Now?

Agricultural subsidies are designed to support farmers. Instead, they frequently lock them into fossil fuel-dependent systems that are increasingly fragile. The recent disruptions to fertilizer supply through the Strait of Hormuz, driving prices up 40%, has even further exposed how structurally vulnerable this system is. Farmers pay the price. So do consumers. So does the planet.

The solutions aren’t unknown. Redirecting public agricultural support toward climate-resilient practices, smart conditional subsidies, rural infrastructure, and direct support for small-scale farmers is an evidence-based path forward. What’s been missing is the political will, and the coordinated global leadership, to make reform unavoidable.

With COP31 arriving in Türkiye in November 2026, and a global transition away from fossil fuels accelerating, the window for action is now.

Concept Note

The High-Level Panel In the News

What the Panel Does

Convened by Clim-Eat as part of the UK-funded Voices for Just Rural Transitions (Voices4JRT) programme, this Panel brings together senior leaders from government, multilateral institutions, civil society, and philanthropy to:

Build coalitions for agricultural subsidy reform

Generate strategic signals to policymakers ahead of key global milestones through 2030

Ensure that farmer and frontline community perspectives shape, rather than follow, high-level policy decisions

The Panel’s focus is a global one, with specific initial insights from three countries, Brazil, Indonesia, and Tanzania, where Voices4JRT partners are already working directly with farming communities to connect ground-level reality to global policy.

There is no single blueprint for reform. The Panel works with governments and stakeholders to identify pathways tailored to their political, economic, and social contexts.

Panel Members

Carlos Alvarado Quesada
Carlos Alvarado Quesada
Former President of Costa Rica, Chair of the High-Level Panel for a Just Rural Transition
Orhan Solak
Orhan Solak
Deputy Director, Directorate of Climate Change, Türkiye
Dario Soto-Abril
Dario Soto-Abril
Executive Director, Trafigura Foundation
Alice Ruhweza
Alice Ruhweza
President, Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa
Sonja Vermeulen
Sonja Vermeulen
Global Food Systems Expert
Andrea Meza Murillo
Andrea Meza Murillo
Deputy Executive Secretary, UNCCD
Tshilidzi Madzivhandila
Tshilidzi Madzivhandila
CEO, Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN)
Ishmael Sunga
Ishmael Sunga
CEO, Southern African Confederation of Agricultural Unions (SACAU)
Gabriel Ferrero de Loma Osorio
Gabriel Ferrero de Loma Osorio
Former Ambassador at Large for Global Food Security, Spain
Gertrude Kambauwa
Gertrude Kambauwa
Director, Ministry of Agriculture, Malawi
Martien van Nieuwkoop
Martien van Nieuwkoop
Director, Agricultural Development, Gates Foundation

Learn More

Watch the launch event

The High-Level Panel for a Just Rural Transition is convened by Clim-Eat and supported by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO).