Coming of age: the ripple effect of 18 years of IDH

This October, IDH turns eighteen. At 18, the question becomes what you will do with what you have built.

Coming of age is a good moment to look at what 18 years of work has set in motion and at what keeps moving beyond our own involvement: a ripple effect.

We measure our impact by what we deliver and, more importantly, by how far it reaches across networks, sectors, markets and geographies, often to people and places we never imagined. The scale is considerable: agriculture and food systems generate close to US$10 trillion a year for the world economy, one of the largest economic systems on the planet.

Over nearly two decades of programs, partnerships and investment, we have aligned the interests of business, governments and investors, blended public and private capital to de-risk and catalyse investment and mobilised action that strengthens how sectors govern themselves. For every €1, we mobilise close to €3 in private investment.

Between 2021 and 2025, for example, we brought partners together in 188 multi-stakeholder coalitions around shared objectives. We have so far contributed to more than 10 million hectares of sustainable agricultural production, improved incomes for 7 million farming households and better working conditions for 1.9 million workers.

Two signs tell us whether change is durable. The first is how much keeps growing beyond our own involvement. Sector partnerships we initiated have matured into self-sustaining initiatives, from the council that certifies responsible seafood to the platform that unites the global coffee sector. They keep adapting and generating results long after our role has changed. The second is how far change shifts the fundamentals of business and market behaviour. That is the real unlock: when a new practice becomes everyday business, it keeps spreading and reaches people we never worked with directly.

What comes next needs business, governments and investors to align their interests and investments, and we bring experience, evidence and influence to the table. For 18 years, we have worked with partners to send ripples through agricultural markets. In the coming weeks, we will share reflections from our leadership, stories from partners who have followed this work closely and a closer look at the initiatives still helping to transform global agricultural markets.