The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has unveiled a $1.4 billion initiative to strengthen climate resilience among smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia — two of the regions most affected by global warming but least supported by international climate finance.
Announced during the 30th UN Climate Change Conference (COP30) in Belém, Brazil, the four-year investment seeks to accelerate locally driven adaptation through digital innovation, resilient crops, and partnerships that empower farmers to withstand extreme weather shocks.
“Smallholder farmers feed much of the world under increasingly harsh conditions,” the Foundation said in a statement. “Supporting their resilience is one of the most impactful investments for humanity and the planet.”
The commitment forms part of Bill Gates’ broader climate strategy, which prioritises funding that delivers measurable human and economic benefits. Despite producing about one-third of the world’s food, smallholder farmers in low-income countries receive less than one per cent of global climate finance.
Under the new initiative, the Foundation will expand AI-enabled mobile advisory tools that provide real-time weather forecasts and farming insights. The AIM for Scale programme, for example, aims to reach 100 million farmers across Africa, Asia, and Latin America by 2030.
Other key investments include developing drought- and heat-tolerant crops, enhancing soil health through a $30 million partnership with the Novo Nordisk Foundation, and deepening collaborations with African agricultural institutions such as the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organisation (KALRO) and TomorrowNow.
The Foundation cited research from the World Bank showing that targeted adaptation could raise GDP in vulnerable economies by up to 15 percentage points by 2050, while every dollar invested in adaptation generates tenfold returns in social and economic gains.
The announcement underscores Africa’s growing leadership in climate adaptation and comes as the 2025 UN State of Food Security and Nutrition report warns that the continent remains the only region where hunger and malnutrition are still rising.
At COP30, the Foundation co-hosted the Agricultural Innovation Showcase with Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture, Embrapa, AGRA, CGIAR, FARA, and the United Arab Emirates, spotlighting scalable, climate-smart solutions developed by and for smallholder farmers.
