NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Facing mounting evidence that climate change will fall hardest on agriculture-dependent regions like sub-Saharan Africa, a coalition of funders at the United Nations climate summit pledged $575 million today to deliver climate-smart solutions to farmers in low-income countries via the CGIAR global network of agricultural research partnerships. Combined with the $256 million recently pledged at the Global Citizen Live event, and other commitments from Sweden and Belgium, CGIAR now has secured $859 million this year to confront a host of rapidly intensifying climate challenges that could upend the global fight against hunger and poverty.

There is also the potential for significant additional investments in CGIAR to emerge later this week at COP26.

“This critical investment surge is a welcome down-payment for accelerating CGIAR’s climate adaptation efforts that already are providing millions of farmers with innovations like stress-tolerant crop varieties and new strategies to restore degraded lands,” said Kundhavi Kadiresan, Managing Director, Global Engagement and Innovation at CGIAR. “We have a deep understanding of the many ways climate change is affecting food production in fast growing regions like sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia and a commitment to building resilience through integrated, environmentally sustainable solutions that rebalance agriculture’s relationship with nature.”