Pathways for Income Improvement: Unlocking Opportunities for Smallholders in Asia
The Living Income Community of Practice will host its annual in-person workshop in Indonesia from November 6-7, 2025, preceded by optional learning journeys from November 3-5.
Building on the 2025 virtual workshop, Pathways to Income Improvement in Asia, this event will offer a valuable opportunity to review sector developments and assess progress on income improvement in Asia – with a focus on Indonesia, where significant efforts have been made to understand and address income challenges.
This workshop will bring together key stakeholders—including practitioners, companies, policymakers, and producer organizations—who are actively engaged in income improvement initiatives in Asia. It will foster engagement, collaboration, and knowledge sharing to accelerate progress toward closing the income gap for farmers in Indonesia.
What to expect:
- Engaging Sessions: Panel discussions, breakout groups, and interactive dialogues.
- Networking & Peer Learning: Opportunities to connect directly with other stakeholders and learn from each other.
- Case Studies & Insights: Showcasing cross-sector initiatives from Indonesia and across Asia
The workshop seeks to strengthen and refine approaches that empower producers to achieve meaningful income improvement. It will be hosted in English and Bahasa Indonesia, with simultaneous interpretation available.
Why Indonesia?
This workshop will examine how a living income framework can help address persistent challenges such as insecure land tenure, an aging farming population, fragmented production systems, and policy dynamics like input subsidies.
Indonesia was selected as the host because its multi-commodity economy, strong domestic markets, and active living income and benchmarking initiatives provide a rich setting for regional dialogue. The country’s diverse experiences - alongside questions frequently raised around topics such as how living income reference values compare to actual farmer incomes or informal exchange rates, land governance challenges, and approaches to producer equity - offer a grounded platform for deepening shared understanding and advancing practical collaboration.
By including context and surfacing examples from across Asia, such as Vietnam - where land systems function differently - and India - where entrenched gender disparities are particularly acute - this workshop aims to strengthen regional alignment and co-develop actionable pathways toward resilient, inclusive, and sustainable livelihoods.
Registration
In-person attendance is limited. We will therefore select those who have expressed their interest and strive for proper representation of all stakeholders, aiming for a diverse mix of organisation types and sectors. Registration confirmations will be sent by email.
Agenda
Field Learning Journeys: From November 3 - 5, there will be learning journeys to visit initiatives working to improve farmer incomes and resilience. Click here for more information.
Welcome and Workshop Framing
This session will ground participants in the living income framework and discuss the importance of a regional context.
This session will be followed by learning journey reflections
Practical Applications of Living Income in Coffee and Palm
This session will get participants thinking how the living income framework can be applied across diverse crops and contexts, recognising persistent barriers, and emphasising the need for actors and cross-sector collaboration.
Lunch
Aligning Economic Resilience with Environmental Goals
This session will examine how income improvement and environmental sustainability must go hand-in-hand in Asia —especially in countries like Indonesia where smallholders are central to both climate solutions and commodity value chains.
Landscape Approaches and Living Income
This session will explore how landscape-level approaches can serve as platforms for scaling living income outcomes in Asia, where integrated efforts across land use, governance, and value chains are increasingly critical to achieving both rural prosperity and environmental sustainability.
Social & Networking Evening
Living Income as a Foundation for Supply Chain Resilience
This session will explore how ensuring fair incomes for producers can significantly enhance supply chain resilience —particularly in the face of climate, market, and demographic pressures across Asia. Through interactive mapping and collaborative strategy design, participants will examine how procurement and sourcing practices can drive both equity and stability. We’ll also delve into practical tools and approaches — such as certification schemes, long-term contracts, stable pricing models, and procurement innovation — that can improve market access and build more resilient supply systems.
Advancing Equity and Inclusion for Smallholder Producers
This session will explore how inclusive strategies — centered on gender equity, youth engagement, and producer voice —can strengthen the effectiveness and fairness of living income initiatives.
Lunch
Measurement, Challenges, and Innovations
This session will unpack the practical challenges and innovations in measuring living income, income gaps, and related social and environmental indicators — recognising the importance of reliable, inclusive, and actionable data to inform strategies and drive progress. In the Asian context, where farming systems are diverse and often informal, advancing measurement systems that reflect local realities is key to credible and effective action.
Key Takeaways and Closing
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