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AMA

Gates Foundation Announces New Commitment for Smallholder Farmers on the Frontlines of Extreme Weather

MaraviPost

$1.4B investment expands access to evidence-backed tools to help farmers in some of the world’s poorest regions adapt and build more resilience to droughts, floods, heat waves

BELÉM, Brazil, 7 November 2025 -/African Media Agency(AMA)/-The Gates Foundation today announced a new commitment to advancing climate adaptation, helping smallholder farmers build resilience to a warming world and protect hard-won gains against poverty.

Announced at COP30 in Belém, Brazil, where leaders are emphasizing locally driven adaptation, the four-year, $1.4 billion investment will expand access to innovations that help farmers across sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia adapt to extreme weather. In these regions, where food security and livelihoods depend on agriculture, smallholder farmers and the communities they feed are among the most exposed to droughts, floods, and rising temperatures. Yet less than 1% of global climate finance targets the growing threats to these vital food systems.

“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.”

The commitment supports Bill Gates’ vision, outlined in his recent COP30 memo, of prioritizing climate investments for maximum human impact and advances the foundation’s goal of lifting millions of people out of poverty by 2045.

Addressing a global funding gap

Farmers in low-income countries produce one-third of the world’s food but face mounting climate threats. Without greater adaptation investment, these shocks will continue to drive food insecurity and reverse hard-won gains against poverty. 

World Bank research shows that targeted adaptation investments could boost GDP, particularly in small island and developing states, by up to 15 percentage points by 2050. The World Resources Institute estimates that every dollar invested in climate adaptation will yield 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,” said Mark Suzman, CEO of the Gates Foundation. “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.”

Scaling farmer-led innovation

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% by 2050.

The foundation’s new investment will scale farmer-led, evidence-backed innovations that strengthen rural livelihoods and food systems amid growing climate threats. It will expand technologies and approaches already showing results, including:

  • Digital advisory services: Mobile apps, SMS, and other platforms that deliver timely, tailored information to help farmers make informed planting decisions and manage risk, including support for the AIM for Scale initiative, which aims to reach 100 million farmers across Africa, Asia, and Latin America by 2030 
  • Climate-resilient crops and livestock: Varieties that withstand drought, heat, and emerging pests while improving yields and nutrition 
  • Soil health innovations: Approaches that restore degraded land, enhance productivity, and reduce emissions—supported by a $30 million partnership with the Novo Nordisk Foundation to advance soil science research

Partnerships driving global impact

The new commitment builds on partnerships that were expanded or launched through the foundation’s COP27 pledges and are already reaching millions of farmers. Examples include: 

  • AIM for Scale: Launched in 2023, this global partnership delivered AI-powered SMS weather forecasts to nearly 40 million farmers across 13 Indian states during the 2025 monsoon season, helping protect millions of acres of crops. 
  • 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.

Collaboration at COP30

This investment reflects a shared global commitment—led by African leaders and Brazil’s COP30 presidency—to put food, livelihoods, and health at the center of resilience planning. Brazil’s own experience linking social programs with sustainable agricultural innovation shows how inclusive adaptation can drive equitable growth.

Together with Brazil’s Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock, Embrapa, AGRA, AIM for Scale, CGIAR, the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA), and the United Arab Emirates, the foundation will co-host the Agricultural Innovation Showcase at COP30. Both a high level event on November 10 and a physical exhibition, the showcase will highlight affordable, climate-smart solutions designed for and, in many cases, by farmers. More information is available here: https://www.embrapa.br/en/cop30/agrizone

Distributed by African Media Agency (AMA) on behalf of Gates Foundation.

About Gates Foundation

Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, we work with partners to create impactful solutions so that people can take charge of their futures and achieve their full potential. In the United States, we aim to ensure that everyone—especially those with the fewest resources—has access to the opportunities needed to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO Mark Suzman, under the direction of Bill Gates and our governing board.

Media Contact:

Gates media team

media@gatesfoundation.org

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Agriculture

Ntchisi registers increased agricultural productivity

Malawi News Agency (MANA)
Magomero (C) inspecting irish potato field

Ntchisi, August 22, 2019: Ntchisi district has registered an increase in agricultural productivity for most of the major crops grown in the district during the 2018/2019 growing season, Malawi News Agency (Mana) has established.

According to the 2018/2019 third round Agriculture Production Estimate Survey (APES) report for the district, maize production has gone up from 128,298 metric tonnes from the previous growing season to 141,463 metric tonnes, representing a nine per cent increase.

The report indicates an increase in Burley Tobacco production from 5.6 million to 6.1 million kilogrammes while flue cured tobacco production increased from 1 million during the previous growing season to 1.1 million kilogrammes this growing season, representing a seven per cent increase.

For legume crops, groundnut yield increased from 12,590 metric tonnes in the previous growing season to 13,350 metric tonnes during the 2018/2019 growing season, representing a 12 per cent increase. Soyabean yield increased by 13 per cent, from 26,580 during the 2017/2018 growing season to 31,710 metric tonnes during the 2018/2019 growing season.

Horticultural crops such as tomatoes, cabbages, onions and leafy vegetables remained the same as last growing season while coffee yield went up by eight per cent.

Acting District Agriculture Development Officer, Siliro Nkhukuzalira Magomero attributed the increased agricultural production to among other things, higher uptake of fertilizers by farmers, good advisory services from the office as well as favourable weather conditions in most of the district’s Extension Planning Areas (EPAs).

“The higher uptake of fertilizers came about because of among other things increased number of beneficiaries under the Farm Input Subsidy Programme (FISP) as well as increased support from tobacco companies,” he said adding maize yield increased due to low infestation of fall army worms.

Despite the increased maize production, Magomero said his office has advised farmers not to sell all their harvest and keep some until the next harvest.

During the 2018/2019 growing season, a total of 29,200 beneficiaries were targeted in the district, an increase from 26,300 beneficiaries who were targeted in the 2017/2018 season, according to the Officer.

He said the district registered a decrease of six per cent for beans yield due to bean beetle attack while potato yield decreased by 15 per cent due to Late bright attack.

“Potatoes is grown on a larger scale in the district with most of the farmers depending on it for their livelihood and as a solution to the late bright disease,” Magomero said farmers are always advised not to rotate potatoes with crops of the same family like tobacco, tomatoes and egg plants.

The APES report has cited natural disasters, pests and diseases as some of the challenges which affected both crop and livestock production during the last growing season.

Malomo EPA for instance experienced floods along Bua River and hailstorm which affected crops.

District Crop Development Officer for Ntchisi, Salimu Mdoka said the said in an interview that the office started implementing the APES exercise in September last year.

He said the survey was done in blocks and had 15 farmers per block.

“The blocks were selected randomly where measurements for crop fields were taken as well as taking stock of livestock,” Mdoka said.
In terms of livestock, the district registered increases in livestock population in most of the major classes of animal species.

Animal Health and Livestock Development Officer, Francis Mhango said this could be largely be attributed to improved survival rate, reduction of diseases due to vaccinations and proper management.

He added that government projects like the Malawi Drought Recovery and Resilience Project (MDRRP) and non-governmental organisations such as the Trustees for Agriculture Production Promotion (TAPP) and Rural Poultry Centre have made an impact in the district.0.

Zakeyo Mwale, a farmer at Ntchisi Centre section under Chikwatula EPA in Traditional Authority Kalumo’s area is among the farmers who participated in the APES exercise.

He has harvested 90 bags of hybrid maize, 1,010 Kgs of tobacco and during the 2018/2019 growing season.

“The APES exercise was helpful as it enabled us to get proper extension services from our extension workers right for each and every step of our agricultural production,” he said.