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A new analysis reveals that helping small-scale farmers adapt to climate change requires $443 billion annually, less than the $470 billion spent on harmful subsidies.
Despite producing half the world's food, smallholders receive minimal climate finance.
The report urges redirecting funds to support these farmers, emphasising their role in global food security and ecological sustainability.
Helping the world’s small-scale family farmers adapt to climate change will cost $443 billion annually, less than the $470 billion governments spend each year on agricultural subsidies that harm people and the planet, according to a new analysis released ahead of COP30 in Brazil.
The study by Climate Focus for the Family Farmers for Climate Action (FFCA) — an alliance representing 95 million small-scale producers across Africa, Latin America, Asia, and the Pacific — warned that despite producing half the world’s food calories and supporting 2.5 billion livelihoods, smallholders receive only 0.36 per cent of the climate finance they need to adapt to worsening droughts, floods and storms.
The report estimated that smallholders cultivating 10 hectares or less require an average annual investment of $953 per hectare — about $2.19 a day, roughly the price of a cup of coffee in Germany — to adopt climate-resilient and low-emission farming practices, strengthen safety nets and improve access to digital climate services.
“This isn’t charity — it’s an investment in global food security,” said Elizabeth Nsimadala, president of the Eastern Africa Farmers Federation, which represents 25 million producers. “Smallholders produce half the world’s food and are central to global supply chains. Investing in their adaptation benefits everyone.”
The release comes as adaptation takes centre stage at COP30, where governments are expected to finalise indicators for the Global Goal on Adaptation and discuss a new global climate-finance roadmap. However, current indicators do not track finance flows to smallholders, raising concerns that family farmers could again be sidelined.
The analysis highlighted stark inequities in existing funding flows. In 2021, only $1.59 billion in climate finance reached smallholder farmers and rural communities worldwide. Farmers themselves collectively spent $368 billion of their own income — up to 40 per cent of their yearly earnings — on adaptive measures such as better irrigation, soil conservation and crop diversification.
“Investing in smallholders is not only an economic necessity but an ecological imperative,” said Thales Mendonça, an agroforestry farmer from southern Brazil and representative of the Inter-Continental Network of Organic Farmer Organisations. “We are pioneering agroecological practices that restore nature’s safety net. Supporting this work is the fastest route from scarcity to abundance.”
The report urged governments to repurpose harmful agricultural subsidies, reform international financial institutions and explore fairer taxation to mobilise the needed funds. The $443 billion annual investment would be less than a third of what developing countries spent on debt servicing ($1.4 trillion in 2023) and equivalent to one-quarter of the annual revenues of the 25 largest food companies.
Beyond global equity, the economic rationale is compelling: Climate disasters have already cost the agriculture sector $3.8 trillion in lost crops and livestock over the past 30 years — around $123 billion annually. Investing in smallholder resilience would help cut these losses while securing supply chains for key commodities such as rice, wheat, cocoa, and coffee.
The FFCA is calling for the creation of a Farmers’ Resiliency and Empowerment Fund, led by farmer organisations, to channel long-term grants and soft loans directly to producers and cooperatives.
“Governments must make it easier for family farmers to access adaptation finance,” said Esther Penunia, Secretary-General of the Asian Farmers’ Association. “A dedicated fund led by farmers would ensure money goes where it has the greatest impact.”
Barriers such as complex application procedures, lack of collateral and absence of rural banking infrastructure prevent smallholders from accessing formal finance. Only 16 per cent of banks surveyed across South Asia, Southeast Asia, Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa lend to smallholders, the report noted.
Under Brazil’s presidency, COP30 will prioritise sustainable and resilient agriculture, including agroecology and family farming, through initiatives such as the Action Agenda and the Circle of Peoples, which seeks to amplify the voices of Indigenous Peoples and small-scale producers.
“Supporting smallholders is key to tackling hunger, restoring ecosystems, and securing our food future,” said Nsimadala. “The cost of inaction will be far greater.”