Dar es Salaam. The world’s smallholder farmers, who produce half of all global food calories, require $443 billion annually to cope with the growing negative effects of climate change, according to new research findings.
The required amount, according to the newly launched report, is less than that spent each year on harmful subsidies.
The research, released on October 23, 2025, ahead of the COP30 Climate Summit scheduled for Brazil, where adaptation is expected to take centre stage, reveals that East Africa needs $34.6 billion (Sh85.96 trillion) for its farmers per year.
The funds will mainly be directed towards incentivising climate-resilient, low-emission agricultural practices (87 percent), with the remainder supporting early warning systems, adaptive safety nets, and digital climate services.
The study, conducted by Climate Focus for Family Farmers for Climate Action, a new alliance representing 95 million small-scale producers across Africa, Latin America, Asia, and the Pacific, found that the cost of helping smallholders adapt is less than the $470 billion spent annually on planet- and agricultural subsidies.
The findings show that smallholders with 10 hectares or less of land need about $952 (Sh2.37 million) per hectare annually, or roughly $2.19 (Sh5,440.8) per day, to build resilience and maintain food production amid intensifying droughts, floods, and heatwaves.
Yet global support for smallholder adaptation remains minimal. In 2021, only $1.59 billion (Sh3.95 trillion) was spent, just 0.36 percent of what is required.
Meanwhile, developing countries collectively spent $1.4 trillion on debt servicing in 2023, a situation experts say underscores the misalignment of global financial priorities.
Despite being highly vulnerable to climate shocks, smallholder farmers still fund their own adaptation efforts, spending 20 to 40 percent of their annual income on soil restoration, drought-resistant crops, and water management systems, a contribution estimated at $368 billion each year.
President of the Eastern Africa Farmers Federation (EAFF), Ms Elizabeth Nsimadala, which represents 25 million smallholders, said the world must view financing smallholder adaptation as a vital investment rather than an act of charity.
“This isn’t charity; it’s an investment in global food security. Smallholders produce half the world’s food calories, sustain 2.5 billion livelihoods, and are central to global supply chains for commodities such as rice, wheat, cocoa, and coffee. Investing in smallholder adaptation benefits everyone,” she said in a statement availed to The Citizen.
An agroforestry farmer from southern Brazil and representative of the Inter-Continental Network of Organic Farmer Organisations, Thales Mendonça, echoed this sentiment, describing investment in smallholders as both an economic and ecological necessity.
“We are pioneering practices such as agroecology that build climate resilience by restoring nature’s safety net. Supporting smallholders and our organisations to scale up this work is the fastest route from scarcity to abundance,” said Mendonça.
The report also highlights regional priorities, noting that East Africa needs around $34.6 billion, with 87 percent allocated to climate-resilient, low-emission farming practices, while the remainder supports early warning systems, adaptive safety nets, and digital climate services.
At COP30, governments are expected to agree on indicators to track progress towards the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) and shape national adaptation plans.
However, the current framework lacks specific measures for finance flows to smallholders, raising concern among farmers’ organisations and climate advocates.
It also remains uncertain whether developed nations will fulfil their pledge to double adaptation finance to between $38 billion and $40 billion by 2025, or agree on a new global target beyond that timeline.
Meanwhile, the Brazilian Presidency’s Action Agenda seeks to mobilise financing and political will for sustainable, resilient agriculture, including agroecology, while amplifying family farmers’ voices through the Circle of People’s initiative, a platform that engages farmers in global discussions on finance, loss and damage, and the just transition.
The Asian Farmers’ Association (AFA) Secretary-General, Ms Esther Penunia, representing 12 million smallholders, said governments must move beyond promises and act decisively to protect smallholder farmers who are already facing climate impacts.
“Governments must agree to a major boost in adaptation finance to shield our farms from storms, droughts, and heatwaves wreaking havoc globally,” she said.
“Channelling more finance to smallholders through their organisations will yield the greatest impact. To achieve this, governments and funders must make it easier for family farmer organisations to directly access finance and establish a dedicated Farmers’ Resiliency Fund led by these organisations,” added Ms Penunia.
The report concludes that redirecting even a fraction of harmful agricultural subsidies towards smallholder adaptation could safeguard the planet’s food systems, sustain rural livelihoods, and accelerate the global transition to climate-resilient farming.
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