Developing country populations are rising, commodity prices are fluctuating widely with economic globalization, food insecurity is increasing and the climate is warming. These are some of the issues that spurred the interest in the learning event, held on June 20-21, 2011 in Washington, D.C. Named after its core objective, the conference, Cracking the Nut: Overcoming Obstacles to Rural and Agricultural Finance, focused discussions around five themes for which the main lessons are summarized below.