Burning Questions
Fellowship Award Winners

Location: India
Primary academic field: Development finance
Award category: PhD Holder

Topics to be Addressed during the Award Period:

Preventing development bank induced industrialization of animal agriculture and the associated greenhouse gas lock-in in low-income countries (LICs)

Assess the portion and characteristics of financial flows from Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) that promote animal agriculture industrialization in low-income countries (particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa).
Find out, for example, the total number and specific cases of MDB-funded projects potentially leading to industrialization of animal agriculture, the portion of financial flows leading to industrialization with break-downs according to type of support (debt, equity, guarantee, advisory), type of intervention supported (project, program, or policy), MDBs providing the highest funding for industrialization, low-income countries most vulnerable to greenhouse gas lock-in from MDB funding, amount of blended finance (if any) supporting industrialization of animal agriculture in LICs.
Discuss implications of all the findings, and how they are relevant for civil society and NGO actions against industrialization.
Recommend how MDBs can shift their financial flows to low-emissions climate-smart food projects in LICs, especially feasible alternatives for investments as well as the policies that MDBs need to put in place to operationalize these alternative projects.

Some of the Things We Really Liked when We Read the Application:

This application highlights development banks' role in promoting industrialization of animal agriculture in low-income countries. It points out, in particular, that such industrialization will lock these countries into high greenhouse gas emission trajectories, making it hard for them to meet Paris climate agreement targets. (Lock-ins are due to "transition inertia". In the livestock sector, investments and policies trigger changes in infrastructure, institutions, equipment, processes, technologies, and behavior in the supply chain that are all geared toward higher levels of production. The high capital costs incurred as well as the entrenchment in the "culture" along the supply chain make transition away from it very hard even when it is technically feasible and economically viable alternatives exist.)
It also explores how these financial flows can be redirected to the production of food that is low-emission and climate-smart.
It weaves together several seemingly separate issues to deliver an compelling argument that is rarely heard. Its message is essentially: "Don't finance industrialization because that will cause lock-ins into paths of high emissions; finance low-emission alternatives instead before it is too late".