The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced this Monday (7) at COP27 in Egypt that it has donated $1.4 billion to small producers and farmers affected by climate change in Africa and Asia.

According to the statement distributed in Sharm el-Sheikh, the donation will be made over four years and will fund methods to combat drought, heat waves and extreme flooding.

Organizations defending small rural producers, which claim to represent about 350 million producers and farmers around the world, published an open letter Monday warning that food security is at stake and asking governments to support small-scale production. industrial agriculture.

“The rise in hunger over the past year has revealed the fragility of a world food system,” the letter, signed by 70 organizations, was caught off guard by climate shocks.

“Building a food system that can feed everyone in a very hot world should be a priority at COP27,” he added.

More than 100 world leaders will launch a new round of negotiations at the UN climate change conference on Monday and Tuesday.

Financing the fight against global warming, through mitigation measures, adaptation or a potential harm and loss fund, demanded by the southern countries from industrialized countries, is at the negotiating table in Sharm el-Sheikh.

Agriculture is the backbone of most African economies. It employs more than 50% of the workforce and accounts for a third of Africa’s total GDP.