The United Nations said last week that the world was not doing enough to help the poorest countries cope with the effects of global warming, adding that annual funding needed to reach $340 billion by 2030.
The pledge, announced by the Gates Foundation at the COP27 conference in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, will help small farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia adopt flexible business practices and improve food security.
More than 2 billion people depend on small farms for food and income, but less than 2 percent of global climate funding is allocated to them to adapt to climate change, the foundation said.
“The climate crisis is causing massive damage every day, endangering entire regions, their people and their economies,” Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, said in a statement.
“More funding is needed to make sure the latest agricultural and technological innovations are made widely available to vulnerable communities, helping them adapt to climate change, saving lives and boosting economic growth,” he added.
The foundation said that its funding will be directed to smart agricultural projects that do not affect the climate and modern applications of digital technologies and other innovations, as well as to support women farmers.
Women represent 43 percent of the agricultural workforce in developing countries, but they tend to have much less access to finance, legal rights and education than men due to gender inequality.
“Women in rural Africa are the mainstay of the diet, but they have never had equal access to the resources they need to reach their full potential or to gain resilience in dealing with looming climate threats,” said Foundation co-chair Melinda French Gates.
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