The research was conducted by Climate Focus for the Family Farmers for Climate Action, in order to provide scientific evidence of the importance of smallholder farmers for adaptation to climate change and the need to invest in them.

US$443 billion a year is needed to meet the climate adaptation costs of smallholder farmers who produce half of the world’s food calories, reveals new analysis published today ahead of the COP30 Climate Summit where adaptation will be the centre stage.
For example, the research shows:

• Smallholders with 10 hectares of land or less require US$443 billion a year to build resilience and adapt to climate impacts – equivalent to an annual average investment of US$952 for a one hectare farm or $2.19 a day.
• This is less than the $470 billion a year which the UN estimatescop30 is spent on agriculture subsidies that are harmful to people and the planet, and a third of the US$1.4 trillion developing countries spent on debt servicing in 2023.
• Global spending on smallholder adaptation amounted to US$1.59 billion in 2021 or just 0.36% of what’s needed. On average smallholders spend 20 – 40% of their annual income on adaptive measures – totalling US$368 billion a year.