Qatar Fund for Development (QFFT) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has declared a new strategic partnership to fight climate change across the African continent.
The partnership, called Nanmo, or “growing together” partnership in Arabic, will see the two organisations invest in climate-adaptive agricultural tools and technologies to build resilient food systems. It will also provide markets that offer nutrition, income, and economic opportunities to small-scale producers and their communities across the African continent.
Specifically, the QFFD and the Gates Foundation jointly pledged about $200m toward agriculture, climate resilience, and economic development projects to support smallholder farmers on drylands on the African continent.
According to the two bodies, farmers are bearing the brunt of the effects of climate change. The partnership will aim to strengthen economies in sub-Saharan Africa in four key areas, namely, equity as a primary driver of inclusive growth; enterprise as a means of job creation and poverty alleviation; agriculture as a primary source of food, jobs, and income; and access to technologies, financial tools, and emerging best practices as a driver of productivity, nutrition, and climate adaptation.
The partnership will also seek to ensure that women small-scale producers can positively contribute to, and benefit from, decisions about how their communities grow food and create jobs.
Bill Gates noted, ‘Hundreds of millions of smallholder farmers, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, already see their livelihoods threatened by higher temperatures and changing weather patterns.’
‘We’re building on our longstanding collaboration with QFFD to help these farmers adapt. Together, we can prevent millions of people from falling into poverty and hunger due to climate change and increase agricultural yields to jumpstart equitable economic growth where it’s most needed,’ he added.
The strategic partnership was announced by Bill Gates and the Director-General of QFFD, Mr Khalifa Al-Kuwari, in the presence of Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman during a panel at the Doha Forum.
Al-Kuwari said, ‘We are thrilled to be announcing a new initiative in collaboration with our strategic partner, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, titled Nanmo, which aims at ensuring that sustainable development goals are met everywhere.’
‘We have high hope that these valuable partnerships will expand our efforts to improve the lives of vulnerable communities, ensuring their economic security against the backdrop of this ever-evolving planet,’ he added.
The partnership will also fund projects with a clear path to achieving impact across multiple United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, including poverty alleviation, agricultural transformation, nutrition, and youth and women’s and youth economic empowerment.
Investments like these are especially important when a conflict in one part of the world can threaten food security.
