By Milliam Murigi
The Gates Foundation has announced a $1.4 billion, four-year commitment to help smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia adapt to the growing impacts of climate change.
The pledge, unveiled at COP30 in Belém, Brazil, aims to protect livelihoods, boost food security, and strengthen rural resilience in regions most vulnerable to droughts, floods, and rising temperatures.
“Smallholder farmers are feeding their communities under the toughest conditions imaginable,” said Bill Gates, chair of the Gates Foundation. “We’re supporting their ingenuity with the tools and resources to help them thrive because investing in their resilience is one of the smartest, most impactful things we can do for people and the planet.”
Farmers in low-income countries produce roughly one-third of the world’s food, yet less than one percent of global climate finance targets these vital food systems. Without significant adaptation investments, climate shocks threaten to reverse hard-won gains against poverty.
Research by the World Bank suggests that targeted adaptation could boost GDP in vulnerable regions by up to 15 percentage points by 2050, while the World Resources Institute estimates that every dollar invested could return more than $10 in social and economic benefits within a decade.
“Climate adaptation is not just a development issue; it’s an economic and moral imperative. Farmers can’t do it alone. Governments and the private sector must work together to prioritize adaptation alongside mitigation,” said Mark Suzman, CEO of the Gates Foundation.
While climate shocks continue to intensify, the financing needed to help farmers adapt to them is not keeping up. According to the 2025 UN State of Food Security and Nutrition report, Africa was the only region where hunger and malnutrition increased this year. Without urgent adaptation, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warns that agricultural productivity in parts of Africa could drop by up to 20 percent by 2050.
The foundation’s new investment will scale farmer-led, evidence-backed innovations aimed at strengthening rural livelihoods and food systems in the face of growing climate threats. It will expand technologies and approaches already showing results such as digital advisory services.
“Digital advisory services include mobile applications, SMS platforms, and other technology-driven tools that deliver timely, tailored information to help farmers make informed planting decisions and manage risk,” said Suzman.
The investment will also support climate-resilient crops and livestock. These are varieties specifically designed to withstand drought, heat, and emerging pests, while also improving yields and nutritional value.
Additionally, the investment will support soil health innovations. That is, approaches that restore degraded land, enhance agricultural productivity, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This work is strengthened by a $30 million partnership with the Novo Nordisk Foundation.
The new commitment builds on partnerships that were expanded or launched through the foundation’s COP27 pledges and are already reaching millions of farmers. These include TomorrowNow and KALRO. Together with the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO), TomorrowNow is providing hyper-local weather alerts to more than 5 million Kenyan farmers, improving yields and reducing crop losses, with expansion underway in Tanzania, Malawi, and Zambia.
The Gates Foundation is working alongside local researchers, governments, and private-sector partners to scale such efforts—strengthening rural economies and food systems for the long term.
“We’ve seen what’s possible when smallholder farmers have access to the right tools and resources, they adapt faster than anyone. With the right investment and strong partnerships, we can put powerful, data-driven solutions directly in farmers’ hands so they can make informed decisions and build resilience on their own terms,” said Wanjeri Mbugua, CEO of TomorrowNow.
