KNOWLEDGE GAPS AND LEARNING QUESTIONS Sample Clauses

KNOWLEDGE GAPS AND LEARNING QUESTIONS. ‌ i) Objective 1 “Scale low-carbon agriculture”: The fundamental assumption is that if producers receive training, technical assistance and financial support, they will change their practices and invest in LCA. Previous interventions have proven that technical assistance and financial support have increased the adoption of LCA practices in certain cases and conditions. However, changing farm practices is a high-risk endeavor as it can jeopardize an important source of income. The impacts (whether positive or negative) may only be seen after the harvest or even later, depending on the type of crop. Considering the high impact and high risk of LCA, the willingness of producers to accept this risk is considered a fundamental assumption for achieving the activity objective. ii) Objective 2 “Scale traceability and monitoring tools”: Considering pressure from investors, consumers, media, supervisory boards and other stakeholders, the activity assumes that companies are sufficiently motivated to make and implement commitments to reduce deforestation in their supply chains. As these commitments are different from the business-as-usual operation of the companies, the assumption is that the main bottleneck is the lack of the tools, knowledge and mechanisms to implement them. The activity will test if this is indeed the main bottleneck and if relieving it is sufficient for companies to invest in the transformation of their supply chains. iii) Objective 3 “Align finance mechanisms”: Lack of access to finance has been documented as one of the key bottlenecks to LCA adoption for producers, especially smallholders. The key assumption is that if producers are provided with tailored finance mechanisms to transform their production to LCA, they will take the opportunity despite the risk this may pose to their economic viability. iv) Objective 4 “Apply research”: The main assumption on this pathway is that companies lack sufficient understanding of how their value chains relate to deforestation. We will provide companies with a better understanding of the problems and test if it is an important driver for change. Then, through the learning question on this matter, we will assess if the information products to improve understanding were successful in not only changing business behavior, including leakage of risk.13 This is key to avoiding greenwashing.