A first-of-its-kind report by AgFunder and ISF Advisors, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, sheds light on the pressing need and opportunities for private investment in climate adaptation within the agriculture sectors of emerging markets, focusing on the pivotal role of smallholder farmers.

Varied private capital sources are investing in smallholder adaptation, including commercial banks, non-banking financial institutions, microfinance providers, large multinational corporations, local and international impact funds, farmland funds and even Silicon Valley-based venture firms. The most robust data findings in this report rely on AgFunder’s database of investment deals in agrifood technology startups, from predominantly venture capital investors.

The report reveals that tech investors -- predominantly venture capital, private equity and impact funds – have put over $5.7 billion of funding to work on adaptation tools and services for smallholder farmers in emerging markets since 2012.

Digital tools and platforms, including agribusiness marketplaces and farm management services, are among the most invested categories while Southeast Asia is the most active region for investment in smallholder-relevant adaptation tech, bringing in $1.9 billion since 2012, the vast majority of that from India.