Qatar and Gates Foundation launch project: pledge $200 million to support farmers

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Qatar Fund for Development (QFFD) and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced on 27 March 2022 at the Doha Forum, a new strategic partnership called Nanmo. The name translates to “growing together” from Arabic.

The amount that has been pledged by both parties; QFFD and the Gates Foundation, equates to $200 million which will be dedicated towards agriculture, climate resilience, and economic development projects to support smallholder farmers on drylands on the African continent. This is an attempt to strengthen economies in sub-Saharan Africa and aid farmers who are currently suffering from the effects of climate change and this partnership will aim to.

A female-centric initiative

One of the first projects Nanmo will be funding will focus on improving the livelihoods of low-income women farmers in a number of African countries, working alongside the World Poultry Foundation to provide them with improved breeds of chicken for egg and meat production.

Furthermore, the partnership will also seek to ensure that female small-scale producers can positively contribute to, and benefit from, decisions about how their communities grow food and create jobs.

Providing further insight to the this partnership Bill Gates said “We’re building on our longstanding collaboration with QFFD to help these farmers adapt. Together, we can prevent millions of people from falling into poverty and hunger due to climate change and increase agricultural yields to jumpstart equitable economic growth where it’s most needed.”

The causes supported

Additionally, it was announced by Bill Gates and Khalifa Al-Kuwari, Director General of QFFD that the partnership will support climate-adaptive tools, practices, policies, and markets as sustainable drivers of resilient food systems that provide nutrition, income, and economic opportunities to small-scale producers and their communities. It will also include systems-level research and country-level implementation to adapt to local environments.

Source: QFFD & The Peninsula
Cover image credit: QFFD