With the negative impacts of climate change becoming more frequent and severe, including devastating droughts and floods affecting the poorest rural communities in the Horn of Africa, Pakistan, and most recently Nigeria, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is calling for urgent and increased financing to support hundreds of millions of small-scale farmers adapt to climate change.

“Many rural communities don’t have a choice, they need to adapt now or risk severe food insecurity in the future. We must act today as the window to help rural people adapt, survive and protect their communities is rapidly narrowing. It is our collective responsibility to respond immediately,” said Alvaro Lario, President of IFAD.

Small-scale producers are essential to global food security but only receive 1.7 percent of climate finance - though they produce one-third of the world’s food overall.  Many of the 3 billion people living in the rural areas of developing countries rely on small-scale farming for their food and livelihoods.  Yet, they are disproportionally affected by frequent and intense extreme weather events and the overall effects of global warming. Crop yields are predicted to fall by up to a quarter by the end of the century. In some cases, yields could drastically drop by up to 80 percent as shown by case studies that IFAD commissioned last year.

In 2021, as many as 828 million people have suffered from hunger in part due to the devastating effects of climate change. In the Horn of Africa, at least 36 million people are affected by the region’s worst drought in 40 years. Two districts in Somalia are at risk of imminent famine. In Pakistan, the devastating impact of the floods raises fears about increased food insecurity in the months to come, with damages and loss in the agriculture and livestock sector estimated at US $3.7 billion.