Smallholders have important roles to play in both the prevention of dangerous climate change by reducing net global Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, and our global ability to adapt to climate change. However, smallholders have largely failed to benefit from international financial mechanisms established as a result of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). We propose that this is due to the design of these mechanisms, which in their current formats are largely inaccessible to smallholder groups. The purpose of this paper, which draws on literature and interviews, is to examine finance and risk-related obstacles hindering smallholders from participating in current carbon finance mechanisms. It also suggests a framework for identifying how to prioritize and aggregate smallholders to achieve mitigation at scale.