The World Bank Group has committed more than $3.8 billion to climate-smart agriculture projects across Africa between 2022 and 2025, reinforcing efforts to strengthen food security and build resilience against the growing impact of climate change on the continent’s farming sector.
The investment is being channelled largely through the Accelerating Innovation and Catalysing Capacity for Resilience in Africa (AICCRA) programme, which has evolved from a series of pilot projects into a continent-wide initiative aimed at transforming agricultural systems.
The programme entered a new phase last year following the approval of an additional $46 million grant to expand climate-smart farming technologies and strengthen institutional capacity across participating countries.
AICCRA has also attracted support from major development and private-sector partners. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation contributed $18.8 million, while OCP Group committed $5 million in co-financing. In addition, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank’s private-sector arm, identified about $335 million in private investment opportunities through Rwanda’s Climate-Smart Agriculture Investment Plan in 2025.
The World Bank’s broader climate-smart agriculture portfolio spans 83 projects worth $3.8 billion across 30 African countries. Complementing these efforts is the Food System Resilience Programme (FSRP), launched across West Africa in 2022 to help countries deploy climate advisory services, agrometeorological tools and improved crop varieties capable of withstanding extreme weather conditions.
A major boost came during the COP28 climate summit in December 2023 when the World Bank pledged $100 million through its International Development Association (IDA) facility to support the 2024–2025 AICCRA cycle. The funding, implemented through the CGIAR research network, is aimed at accelerating the adoption of climate-smart technologies among smallholder farmers in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Senegal and Zambia.
In March 2024, the Bank approved an additional $40 million grant to further expand the programme. The funding supports the deployment of drought-tolerant rice and maize varieties, digital climate advisory platforms and solar-powered irrigation systems in regions experiencing increasingly erratic rainfall patterns.
The latest phase of AICCRA is financed through a combination of IDA resources, the Policy and Human Resources Development Fund Global South Pillar and the Food Systems 2030 Multi-Donor Trust Fund. The programme is administered by the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology (icipe).
The initiative has already delivered significant results. Nearly 12 million beneficiaries have accessed validated climate-smart agricultural solutions, while 309 institutions across Africa have received support. The Food System Resilience Programme has reduced food insecurity by 30 per cent in targeted communities, extended agro-meteorological services to about 962,000 agricultural stakeholders and enabled almost one million farmers to adopt improved farming technologies.
Under the new phase, more than 250,000 farmers are expected to adopt drought-tolerant crops and solar-powered irrigation systems. The programme also aims to mobilise $16.5 million in private investment, support 150 agribusiness ventures and strengthen or establish 25 agricultural technology incubators and accelerators across East and West Africa.
AICCRA Director Robert Zougmoé described the latest funding approval as a strong endorsement of the programme’s impact.
“This enhanced collaboration paves the way for sustained and effective use of climate-smart innovations across Africa,” he said.
Chakib Jenane, World Bank Regional Director noted that the initiative places strong emphasis on job creation, particularly for women and young people across the agricultural value chain.
Marina Wes, Director of Strategy and Operations for the World Bank’s Western and Central Africa Region, stressed the importance of regional cooperation in addressing climate-related agricultural challenges.
“Climate risks, pests, data systems and markets do not stop at borders,” she said.
