Gates Foundation Commits $1.4B to Climate-Smart Agriculture

News World

Published by Stephen Oluwadara at November 12, 2025

Tackling a Mounting Climate Threat on Farming

According to the foundation, chaired by Billionaire Bill Gates, supporting these farmers is vital not only for regional preservation but also for global food security. That’s because one third of the world’s food supply comes from low-resourced countries. Therefore, disruptions could have a widespread effect.

“Smallholder farmers are feeding their communities under the toughest conditions imaginable,” Gates said in the news release. “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 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 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.

The announcement was made at COP30 in Belém, Brazil, where leaders are emphasizing locally driven adaptation. The $1.4 billion investment will enable digital advisory services such as mobile apps and SMS tools that will ensure they have information for guidance and risk management, per a news release.

Furthermore, the foundation will provide crops that can withstand climate change. Lastly, the funds will restore degraded land and lower emissions through a $30 million partnership with the Novo Nordisk Foundation.

Gates Foundation is Building on Partnerships

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

For example, the AIM for Scale initiative, launched in 2023, delivered AI-powered SMS weather forecasts to nearly 40 million farmers across 13 Indian states during the 2025 monsoon season. This helped protect millions of acres of crops.

TomorrowNow and KALRO, together with the Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization, are providing hyperlocal weather alerts to more than 5 million Kenyan farmers. This is improving yields and reducing crop losses, with expansion underway in Nigeria, 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.

“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,” Suzman continued.

Wanjeri Mbugua, CEO of TomorrowNow, commented: “We’ve seen what’s possible when small holder 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.”

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