Gates Foundation pledges US$1.4B to support smallholder farmers facing climate change
The new investment focuses on helping farmers in Africa and South Asia adapt to harsh weather and strengthen food systems.
AFRICA/SOUTH ASIA – The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has announced a US$1.4 billion commitment to help smallholder farmers in Africa and South Asia adapt to worsening climate conditions, including droughts, floods, and rising temperatures.
The four-year investment, revealed during COP30 in Belém, Brazil, will expand access to practical tools already helping farmers improve yields and secure livelihoods. The foundation emphasized that the goal is to strengthen locally led efforts that protect food production and community wellbeing.
“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.”
Building resilience through innovation
Global concern is growing that only a small fraction of climate finance reaches smallholder farmers, even though they produce nearly one-third of the world’s food. Many of these farmers have limited means to respond to extreme weather, making them highly vulnerable to crop losses and income instability.
Mark Suzman, CEO of the Gates Foundation, stressed that adaptation must become central to global priorities. “Climate adaptation is not just a development issue, it’s an economic and moral imperative,” he said. “This new commitment builds on our support for farmers in Africa and South Asia who are already innovating to withstand extreme weather. But they can’t do it alone, governments and the private sector must work together to prioritize adaptation alongside mitigation.”
The foundation’s funding will expand programs that help farmers make better planting decisions, restore soil fertility, and increase yields. These include digital advisory services such as the AIM for Scale initiative, which uses mobile messages to share real-time weather forecasts and farming advice with millions of users.
Other interventions include climate-resilient crop varieties, improved livestock breeds, and soil health projects developed through partnerships like the $30 million collaboration with the Novo Nordisk Foundation to advance soil science research.
Partnerships for shared progress
The new funding builds on work launched at COP27, which is already showing strong results. AIM for Scale reached nearly 40 million farmers in India this year, using AI-based forecasts to protect crops during the monsoon season.
In Kenya, the TomorrowNow program and the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization (KALRO) now deliver hyper-local weather alerts to more than five million farmers, with plans to reach neighboring countries soon.
This year’s COP30 has highlighted joint efforts by African and Brazilian leaders to place food security and livelihoods at the center of climate action.
Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture, Embrapa, AGRA, and CGIAR will partner with the Gates Foundation to host the Agricultural Innovation Showcase on November 10. The event will feature affordable, farmer-driven solutions designed to strengthen resilience in vulnerable regions.
As climate challenges intensify, the Gates Foundation’s renewed focus aims to ensure that smallholder farmers, the backbone of many rural economies, continue feeding their communities while building secure and sustainable futures.
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