Smallholder farmers in Africa lead climate change adaptation: G20 should fund their efforts

Olaoluwa Omoniyi Olarewaju, University of KwaZulu-Natal; Lloyd Baiyegunhi, University of KwaZulu-Natal; Olaniyi Fawole, University of Johannesburg, and Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

Across most of Africa, rural communities grow their own food, relying on smallholder agriculture. But climate change is threatening this way of life.

Rising temperatures, erratic rainfall and degraded soils are already shrinking harvests. This is pushing millions of smallholder farmers into deeper poverty.

Yet some African farmers are embracing innovative, cost-effective and environmentally friendly sustainable agricultural practices. For example, agroforestry – growing trees alongside crops on the same land – helped boost harvests in Ethiopia by up to 30%. It also reduced soil erosion by keeping the soil covered and rooted. Agroforestry has worked well in Uganda, Kenya and Nigeria, too.

In Burkina Faso and Niger, traditional zaï pits and rainwater harvesting are helping farmers to restore land that’s been degraded by soil erosion.

These locally grounded innovations contribute to land restoration, biodiversity conservation and climate mitigation.

These solutions are based on local knowledge, are environmentally friendly, and have worked for many farmers. But they’re underfunded, still need money to grow and require more research into how they can be expanded across sub-Saharan Africa. So, even though these solutions would support a just transition towards low-emission, food-secure agri-food systems, they aren’t yet being widely adopted.

We are an interdisciplinary team that works in the fields of climate change, agricultural economics and food systems. We look at how climate change and big commercial food systems affect people’s health and ability to earn a living, and what can be done about it.

We reviewed over 120 studies from Ethiopia, Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Malawi, Senegal, South Africa, and other countries that looked at how farmers were adapting their practices to weather climate shocks, like heatwaves, drought and floods. Our review is unique because it brings together research into how crops are grown (the science), with studies on the policies that guide farming, how farmers get money and support, and even how gender affects who gets access to these resources.

Our study found that many climate-resilient farming projects in sub-Saharan Africa are a success. But not all. A lack of funding, insecure land ownership, and a lack of training for and investment in the farms of women and youth are preventing climate-resilient farming from taking off. Government policies that fail to support new ways of farming are also a problem.

To protect rural livelihoods, prevent biodiversity collapse, and avoid deepening poverty across vulnerable farming communities, this must change fast.

What the research shows

We found that conservation agriculture in Malawi and Zambia enhanced soil health and resilience. Conservation agriculture is a simple way of farming that avoids ploughing, keeps soil covered, and rotates crops. These practices improve the land and help farmers grow more food, even when the climate is changing.

We also found that Ethiopia and Uganda promote integrated crop-livestock systems, which combine animals and crops on the same farm. In the northern region of Ethiopia, terracing (building step-like structures on slopes) worked well to reduce rainwater from running off.

In Kenya’s semi-arid areas, farming that mimics natural ecosystems has enhanced the soil’s ability to hold more water, helping crops survive prolonged dry spells. These are low-cost, nature-based solutions that build resilience while restoring degraded land.

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• Smallholder farmers in Africa lead climate change adaptation: G20 should fund their efforts
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However, our research showed that in numerous countries, the adoption of these practices is limited.

In both Ghana and Malawi, women cannot access funding as easily as men, so sustainable agricultural initiatives were less successful. Other reasons were gender-based exclusion from support and technical services. This substantially lowers adoption rates of climate-smart practices among women farmers.

Our research also found that scaling up sustainable agricultural practices must be inclusive and just. It cannot be a top-down promotion of new technologies because adapting agriculture to climate change isn’t just about new tools or techniques. It is also about women, youth, and marginalised groups such as people living with disabilities having equal access to resources, training and decision-making. Without this, even the best ideas may fail to take root.

International donors have initiated climate-smart agriculture projects in various sub-Saharan African nations. But most are struggling because they do not fit well with local needs. For instance, projects often overlook indigenous knowledge, ignore local land ownership customs, or introduce technologies that are too expensive or labour-intensive for smallholder farmers.

Why the G20 must act

So what can be done about it? Could the G20, an international forum representing the world’s largest economies, help drive the needed transformation?

South Africa currently holds the G20 presidency and will hand this over to the US in 2026. This means there is a rare opportunity for the G20 to place international focus on Africa’s rural priorities for agriculture, environment and climate finance.

The G20’s 2025 agenda commits to transforming commercially based food systems, managing land sustainably and promoting climate-smart agriculture. This is encouraging. However, previous commitments from the G20 have often failed to translate into practical support for African farmers. With effective leadership, this year’s G20 can move beyond words.

It should do this by helping African governments access concessional finance from global climate funds. The G20 can also foster partnerships between countries, development banks and philanthropists.

The funds raised should be used to roll out digital extension services, endorse indigenous knowledge, and advocate for inclusive and gender-responsive changes to agriculture.

What needs to happen next?

Based on our study, African leaders and their G20 partners must prioritise the following:

1. Invest in public services that provide farmers with agricultural knowledge, timely climate information, training and technical support and connections to markets to sell produce. Digital technologies can only help when paired with community-based networks and local knowledge.
2. Make sure that all people, including women and young farmers, have enough land, water and credit to farm.
3. Channel climate finance towards strengthening locally proven practices and low-tech solutions that do not cost a lot of money. These include growing indigenous crops that are good for the soil but have fallen out of use, and growing plants with trees (agroforestry).
4. Support regional research partnerships that cater specifically to different agroecological zones. One-size-fits-all solutions rarely work in agriculture.
5. Invest in agricultural innovations that provide positive spinoffs for nature and people. These include growing crops with legumes to enrich soil (intercropping). It also includes growing underutilised resilient crops such as sorghum, millet and bambara groundnut. These are highly nutritious and even grow in droughts.
6. Agriculture is not just a victim of climate change. It is central to the solution. It must receive the same attention in global forums as fossil fuels and energy transitions.

Our research found that farmers are already adapting to climate change. But the whole system has to transform. This needs political commitment, international funding, and fair institutions.

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Olaoluwa Omoniyi Olarewaju, Honorary Research Fellow, University of KwaZulu-Natal; Lloyd Baiyegunhi, Professor, University of KwaZulu-Natal; Olaniyi Fawole, Full Professor, SARChI Research Chair and Director of Postharvest and Agroprocessing Research Centre, University of Johannesburg, and Tafadzwanashe Mabhaudhi, Professor of Climate Change, Food Systems and Health and Director of The Lancet Countdown in Africa, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.