BELEM, Brazil, Nov 7 — The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has announced a $1.4 billion investment to help smallholder farmers across sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia adapt to extreme weather and strengthen food security.
Announced at COP30 in Belém, Brazil, the four-year commitment will expand access to evidence-backed innovations that help farmers build resilience against droughts, floods, and rising temperatures. Less than 1% of global climate finance currently targets the growing risks to smallholder agriculture — even though these farmers feed hundreds of millions.
“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 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.”
The investment supports Gates’ call for locally driven adaptation and aligns with the foundation’s goal to lift millions out of poverty by 2045.
Tackling the Adaptation Gap
Farmers in low-income countries produce one-third of the world’s food but face increasing climate shocks. Without urgent investment, the World Bank warns that adaptation gaps could reverse years of progress. Research shows that every $1 spent on climate adaptation yields over $10 in benefits.
“Climate adaptation is not just a development issue—it’s an economic and moral imperative,” said Mark Suzman, CEO of the Gates Foundation. “Farmers in Africa and South Asia are already innovating to withstand extreme weather, but they can’t do it alone.”
Scaling Farmer-Led Innovation
The new investment will scale practical, farmer-driven solutions that are already showing results:
Digital advisory services delivering real-time planting and weather information, aiming to reach 100 million farmers by 2030.
Climate-resilient crops and livestock that can withstand drought, heat, and pests.
Soil health innovations, supported by a $30 million partnership with the Novo Nordisk Foundation, to restore degraded land and reduce emissions.
Partnerships with Impact
The Gates Foundation will build on existing collaborations, including:
AIM for Scale, which reached 40 million Indian farmers with AI-powered weather forecasts during the 2025 monsoon.
TomorrowNow and KALRO, delivering hyper-local alerts to 5 million Kenyan farmers, with expansion planned in Tanzania, Malawi, and Zambia.
Collaboration at COP30
The foundation will also co-host the Agricultural Innovation Showcase with partners including Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture, Embrapa, AGRA, CGIAR, and FARA. The showcase will spotlight affordable, climate-smart solutions designed for — and often by — farmers.
“By investing in adaptation, we’re investing in the people who keep our world fed,” Gates said. “Their resilience is key to our collective future.”