The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has donated $1.4 billion to help small farmers in Africa and Asia adapt to climate change, the philanthropic organization announced yesterday.

The amount will be distributed over four years to promote innovations that enable small farmers to better withstand droughts, heat waves, and extreme floods amplified by climate change.

"Additional funding is needed to ensure that agricultural and technological innovations are widely available to vulnerable communities," Bill Gates, the billionaire co-founder of computer giant Microsoft, said in a statement, quoted by Lusa.

The announcement was made on the occasion of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP27), which is being held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, until next 18th.

Organizations representing 350 million small farmers argued on the first day of work that building a "food system that can feed the world on a warming planet" should be a "priority" for COP27.

"The effects of climate change are already devastating, and every time the world delays action, more people suffer and solutions become more complex and expensive," said Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman.

The money donated by the foundation will mainly encourage new technologies, help women, or promote innovations in cattle management.

A platform developed with Kenya will help farmers better anticipate climate threats, with text messages sent to their cell phones that can help them save crops.

Experts welcomed the Gates Foundation announcement, but insisted that broader support is needed.

Elizabeth Robinson, director of the Center for Climate Change Economics and Policy, welcomed the announcement, which she called "important," saying that "the scale of the problem is such that governments, the private sector, and international organizations must increase their commitments to food security."