Agricultural Development

Our goal
To support farmers and governments in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia that are seeking a sustainable, inclusive agricultural transformation—one that creates economic opportunity, respects limits on natural resources, and gives everyone equal access to affordable, nutritious food.
The owner of a poultry distribution center in Ethiopia that serves smallholder farmers

At a glance

  • Agriculture is the main source of income for several hundred million people around the world who struggle with poverty and hunger, most of whom are connected to small-scale, or smallholder, farms—plots of land roughly the size of a soccer pitch or American football field.
  • We invest in agriculture across sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia because research shows that growth in the agricultural sector is the most effective way to reduce poverty and hunger.
  • Smallholder farmers in these regions, who collectively supply most of the population’s food, are incredibly resourceful in the face of challenges but need new options for sustainably producing and selling a wide array of crop and livestock products, especially as climate change rapidly intensifies the stresses they face.
  • Evidence shows that with the right kinds of support, smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia can tap the power of food production to create a better life for their families and improve their communities while providing local consumers with reliable access to healthy, affordable food.
  • Our investments in agriculture play an important role in the foundation’s broader effort to empower women and girls with economic opportunities.
Our strategy

Our strategy

We support inclusive agricultural development with three main types of investments:

1. We invest in tools and technologies that target the specific needs of farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

We support innovations that are informed by the unique diversity of crops and livestock they produce and the wide range of soil and climate conditions they encounter. We ensure that the innovations our partners produce—such as climate-smart crop varieties, livestock vaccines, and digital soil maps—are delivered as “global public goods.” This means they are affordable and accessible to all who need them.

2. We invest in developing and scaling up innovative support structures for smallholder food producers that provide new options for sustainably earning a reliable income from their hard work.

We fund public- and private-sector initiatives such as community self-help groups that assist local farmers and livestock keepers in rural India and farmer cooperatives and village-based advisors that assist farmers in West Africa.

3. We invest in public- and private-sector efforts to develop more effective systems for delivering products and services to smallholder farmers.

We fund government endeavors to develop and implement detailed agricultural development strategies that include clear milestones for progress. In the private sector, we partner with agricultural enterprises, such as socially conscious financial and livestock service providers, that help smallholder farmers operate their farms as sustainable businesses.

Mary Wairimu, a local farmer and poultry keeper, at her residence in Naivasha, Kenya, on April 24, 2023.
Climate adaptation: Ensuring resilience in agriculture

Learn more

Areas of focus

Areas of focus

Our agricultural development work is organized around nine key areas.

We support partners in the public and private sectors across several African countries that are committed to transforming smallholder agriculture into a sustainable, inclusive foundation of economic opportunity.

We support efforts in key areas of Asia to develop diversified farming and food systems that improve access to affordable, nutritious food and strengthen market opportunities for smallholder producers.

We support public-sector crop breeding programs in Africa and Asia, which have developed considerable insights into the needs and preferences of local farmers, processors, and consumers.

We invest in crop research, with the goal of providing new advances that farmers can use to sustainably increase their productivity.

We support local and national efforts to develop food systems anchored by smallholder producers that can sustainably deliver safe, affordable, and nutritious food year-round to low-income people.

We work to ensure that public- and private-sector agricultural development efforts in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia are supported by targeted resources from donors and are aligned with the goals of global institutions such as the World Bank.

Our livestock investments support smallholder livestock keepers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia in their efforts to sustainably raise healthy, productive animals.

We believe that digitally enabled platforms offer new options to help smallholder farmers leapfrog many of the barriers to sustainably raising productivity and increasing their incomes.

Our agricultural investments play an important role in the foundation’s broader effort to empower women and girls with economic opportunities.

Why focus on agricultural development?

Why focus on agricultural development?

Our foundation is driven by the belief that all lives have equal value and that everyone has a right to live a healthy, productive life.

We invest in agriculture because around the world, agriculture has a strong track record of providing an effective pathway out of poverty—of giving poor people an opportunity to live a healthy, productive life.

To succeed, smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia don’t need their farms to get big, but they do need to become more productive, using sustainable approaches that respect limits on natural resources and the need to preserve biodiversity and fragile ecosystems. Their crops and livestock are often far less productive than those in other developing regions, and they frequently lack access to market opportunities that can support investments in better inputs, tools, and farming practices. Climate change is steadily adding new challenges.

But the potential for farmer-led progress is substantial. Because agriculture is so pervasive, especially in poor rural areas, growth in this sector is more than twice as effective at reducing poverty as growth in any other sector. Over the past 10 years, agricultural development has played a pivotal role in historic reductions in poverty in Rwanda, Ghana, and Ethiopia. In Africa’s largest economy, Nigeria, every percentage point added to the annual growth of the agriculture sector lifts 6 million people out of poverty. We support smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia because we believe doing so can help them create a better life for their families and benefit their communities and countries.

Strategy leadership

Strategy leadership

Martien van Nieuwkoop
Martien van Nieuwkoop
Director, Agricultural Development
Martien van Nieuwkoop leads the foundation’s work to support smallholder farmers, especially women, to become more productive, increase their incomes, strengthen their communities and local economies, and improve their resilience against climate change.
Enock Chikava
Enock Chikava
Director, Agricultural Delivery Systems
Enock Chikava leads the program’s team that is working to reduce poverty for farming families in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, by promoting inclusive agricultural innovations that drive productivity and income growth for smallholder farmers in a sustainable way.
Renee Lafitte
Renee Lafitte
Director, Crops Research and Development
Renee Lafitte leads the program’s crop research and development work.
Our partners

Our partners

We do our work in collaboration with our grantees and other partners, who join with us in pushing for new solutions and harnessing the transformative power of science and technology.
AGRA

AGRA is a farmer-centered institution led by Africans with roots in farming communities across the continent. It works with a large network of partners to deliver proven solutions to smallholder farmers and local agricultural enterprises. AGRA’s goal is to transform agriculture in Africa from a struggle to survive to businesses that thrive.

Central and West African Virus Epidemiology (WAVE)

WAVE is an international research initiative to fight root and tuber crop diseases that threaten the livelihoods of Africa’s smallholder farmers.

CGIAR

CGIAR is a global research partnership dedicated to reducing poverty, enhancing food and nutrition security, and improving natural resources and ecosystem services. Its 15 research centers work in close collaboration with hundreds of partners, including national and regional research institutes, civil society organizations, academia, development organizations, and the private sector.

Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency (ATA)

The ATA is a strategy- and delivery-oriented government agency that works to accelerate the growth and transformation of Ethiopia’s agricultural sector. Its sole focus is on improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers across the country.

FarmStack

FarmStack is an open-source platform that helps smallholder farmers and organizations in India and Ethiopia exchange data across the food and agriculture system.

SELEVER

SELEVER seeks better nutrition for women and children in Burkina Faso by strengthening women’s economic opportunities in poultry production.

Sidai

Sidai is a social enterprise that supplies quality livestock and crop inputs and training to smallholder farmers and pastoralists across Kenya.

Ideas on agricultural development

Dr. Clare Mugisha (L), a senior scientist working for CGIAR and International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT), is photographed with Brenda Nakyanzi (R), research coordinator at CIAT in the field garden at the Kawanda Research Institute, in Kawanda, Uganda.
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The critical reason to close gender gaps in agriculture

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Jemimah Njuki Chief of Economic Empowerment, UN Women
Six Picks from agriculture advocate Azeez Salawu
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Six picks from an advocate for sustainable agriculture

When you need to look at a problem in a new light, turn to these recommendations from an advocate for sustainable agriculture. See what sustains his passion for agricultural research and development in Africa.
Mark Suzman in Ethiopia.
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Mark Suzman CEO, Board Member, Gates Foundation
Josephine Kimonyi and her family at her home in Makueni County, Kenya.
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The visionary dairy farmer

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Program resources