The Pathway out of Poverty Starts with Greater Investment in Climate Smart Agriculture

At a critical meeting in Bonn earlier this month, high-level government officials from around the world met to put some muscle into the historic 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change. One of the key decisions they made is that the agreement should play a significant role in helping farmers adapt to the impact of climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions linked to agriculture.

But the urgency with which we need to respond to climate change is sadly not reflected in the slow pace of the climate negotiations. The delays have dire consequences for those most impacted by the changing climate — smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia — who are also at greatest risk of hunger and poverty.

Towards the end of the Bonn talks, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) released a report that cited climate change as a major contributor to the rise in the number of food insecure people in Africa from 200 million in 2015 to 224 million in 2016.

So, why should the struggles of African farmers against climate change be an international concern? One reason is Africa’s dramatic population growth, which is expected to account for half of the 2.2 billion rise in the global population between now and 2050. At that rate, by mid-century one out of every four people in the world will be African. A surging population facing climate-induced damage to crop production is a potentially combustible combination.

For example, scientists warn that rising temperatures could cut yields of Africa’s most important food crop, maize, by 20 to 50 percent. Africa’s food system is also vulnerable because it depends on smallholder farmers, who lack access to things like improved seed, fertilizers, storage, financing and markets that most farmers elsewhere take for granted.

Yet there are reasons to be optimistic that African smallholder farmers — along with smallholder farmers facing similar challenges in places like South Asia — can become resilient.

Outside of the climate talks, African agriculture is gaining attention, from governments, donor countries and philanthropy, for its potential to address both Africa’s food and economic needs. Some 60 to 70 percent of Africans depend on farming for food and income, which makes growth in the agriculture sector far more effective at reducing poverty and increasing economic opportunity than growth in any other sector.

For more than a decade the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has been supporting efforts to improve crop productivity and incomes for smallholder farmers in Africa and South Asia. Our efforts focus on increasing farmers’ access to the knowledge, tools, markets and technologies that can lift their families out of poverty, and contribute to a sustainable global food system.

Developing such solutions for farmers in the face of a changing climate also requires significant new investments in innovations that have the potential to transform agriculture by helping farmers adapt to rising temperatures and more stressful growing conditions. There is precedent for such breakthroughs. Decades ago the production of a series of high-yield, disease-resistant wheat varieties — coupled with a strong system for getting them to farmers — was credited with helping save millions from starvation.

Smallholder farmers already struggle to produce enough food and income for their families. Climate change will make the enormity of their task even greater. Overcoming these challenges and transforming smallholder agriculture has enormous upside potential. The World Bank estimates Africa’s agriculture and agribusiness markets could generate US $1 trillion by 2030.

We encourage our partners around the world to join us in embracing the many ways smallholder farmers can overcome the impacts of climate change and realize the potential of agriculture to transform their lives and the economies of the countries where they live.