Living Income

Contributing to a decent standard of living for smallholder farming households

50 to 95% of smallholder farming households currently don’t earn enough to cover their basic costs of living. IDH is committed to increasing farmer incomes for more responsible, stable, and productive supply chains.

Only a fraction of the value generated by global agricultural commodities makes its way to the smallholder farmer. IDH aims to address this inequitable value distribution with a focus on making farmer income more stables and resilient, and closing living income gaps

When a farming household earns a living income, they can afford a decent standard of living (including food, water, housing, healthcare and other essential needs), while also having the means to invest in their farm. That means less risk, better quality products, greater yields and longer-term viability for buyers. A win-win for both farmers and the businesses that buy from them.

Our offering

An integrated approach to living income

IDH supports companies to take ambitious and aligned actions to improve farmer incomes, both through partnerships and one-to-one collaborations. We realise that just working on productivity in isolation has not moved the needle on farmer incomes. We believe this needs to also be complemented with changing procurement practices. That is why we have a dedicated team to support you on how to include living income in your procurement practices.

Concrete and relevant guidance, tools to help you measure and design income interventions, information on who to team up with, all of this is available to support you in your journey.

Keeping gender equality front of mind

Gender equality cuts across all our Impact Agendas – including Living Income. Economically empowering women farmers helps close the income gap and brings broader social benefits.

Gender EqualityGender Equality

Understanding the living income challenge

Roadmap

A roadmap to close living income gaps in supply chains

We’ve turned 16 years of insights into an actionable plan that helps companies take ambitious, aligned actions to improve incomes and close living income gaps of farming households. To ensure we fully understand the obstacles companies are faced with in their living income journey, we coordinate a Business Action Committee (BAC) that identifies these difficulties and ensures efficient action can be taken. We support you in setting targets and delivering impact with a logical framework, clear steps, and data-driven tools.

Roadmap on Living IncomeRoadmap on Living Income

Tools to address the complex challenges of living income

Our Living Income roadmap embeds guidance and tools developed by IDH alongside those created by the Living Income Community of Practice (LICOP). These tools help you assess living income gaps and build and analyze income interventions. You can also directly access these tools here.

Living Income toolsLiving Income tools

Tool

Income Driver Calculator

Identify the size of living income gaps in your supply chain and take data-driven decisions on the most effective strategies to close them.

Discover the tool

Tool

Income Measurement Guidance

Assess household income in a streamlined methodology across multiple commodities and regions of operations.

Discover the tool

Tool

Inclusive business analysis module

Let us help you evaluate your current procurement practices and identify more sustainable practices that can increase farmer income.

Discover the tool

Living income initiatives in action

Discover our flagship initiatives to ensure more resilient and living income by transforming sector governance and business practices and delivering field-level impact.

Program