Economic Opportunity

In many low- and middle-income countries, the path to economic opportunity runs through agriculture. Smallholder farming provides livelihoods for 2.5 billion people worldwide and over 80% of the food for regions such as South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.

At the foundation, we help our partners develop solutions that result in more crops, income, food, credit, and economic opportunities for small farmers and that help they and their families weather the many impacts of climate change.

Dr. Clare Mukankusi, a senior scientist working as the Global Breeding Lead of Common Bean for the NARO bean 6 at CGIAR’s Alliance of Bioversity International and International Centre for Tropical Agriculture (CIAT) in Kiboga District, Uganda on May 2, 2024.
Featured Article

Meet the innovator: This scientist is building the beans of the future

A Ugandan scientist is engineering beans to thrive despite drought, pests, and shorter growing seasons—one crossbreed at a time.
Read the story
Veronica Mwelu works in her garden with her husband, Bernard Mainga, on her smallholder farm in Wote, Kenya on March 3, 2021. Climate change is having a significant impact upon smallholder, African farmers in the form of irregular rains and drought.

The Garden of the Future

The Garden of the Future exhibit, debuting in May 2025 at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show in London, spotlights the people and partnerships behind some of the incredible innovations that are helping communities adapt and thrive in the face of climate change.
Dr. Stellah Bosire poses for a photograph at her desk in a hospital in Nairobi, Kenya on April 6, 2024.

A doctor at the intersection of women’s health and economic power

Dr. Stellah Bosire champions women’s economic empowerment and health equity. Learn how her work is transforming lives in Kenya and beyond.
Veronica Auma and her son, Terrel, at their house in Busia County, Kenya. Veronica spoke to the Gates Foundation on how affordable and high-quality child care impacted her ability to pursue economic opportunities.

Q&A: How strengthening the care economy can boost women’s workforce participation

A specialist in gender data and evidence explains how challenges and opportunities on the path to creating a more equitable care system could increase women’s participation in the global workforce.
By Radu Ban Senior Program Officer, Gender Data and Evidence, Gates Foundation
Poonam poses for a photograph with her India Post Payments Bank card that helps her access digital banking in Mumbai, India.

Why digital public infrastructure matters

Digital public infrastructure (DPI) is a powerful tool for reducing poverty. Our expert explains what it is and how it’s transforming economies worldwide.
By Thao Hong Program Officer, Gates Foundation
For a long time, Peace Alinda informally borrowed money through a friend who had the required collateral to acquire a loan. One development group member Medrine introduced Peace to Sylvia, a FINCA loan officer.With support from FINCA, Peace has invested in a number of ways, one of which is buying food supplies such as millet flour in bulk at harvest time (in December) when it is cheap and sell it at other times of the year when she can command a higher price. She is a businesswoman and a farmer with a wide variety of small investments. She also trades cattle and brokers land in her area.

Designing credit that works for women

In sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, women business owners receive as few as 10% of loans issued to small and medium-sized businesses, creating an estimated $1.7 trillion financing gap for women entrepreneurs. When women don’t have the same access to much-needed capital as men, it holds back women, their businesses, and entire economies.
By Rohini Pande Professor of Economics, Yale University
Veronica Auma purchases fish from local fishermen on the shore of Lake Victoria in Busia County, Kenya on April 11, 2024.

Creating a care economy that supports women and helps communities thrive

For many women, the ability to fully participate in the economy is only possible when they have access to affordable high-quality child care.
By Mavis Owusu-Gyamfi Incoming CEO & President, African Center for Economic Transformation 
Portrait of Bunmi Grace Babalola, owner of a Patent and Proprietary Medicine Vendor (PPMV) drug store, in Alimosho, Lagos State, Nigeria, on May 23, 2023.

The capital women need, for the future we all need

Melinda French Gates pens the foreword to a new paper that addresses the need to expand access to affordable credit for women entrepreneurs in the Global South.
By Melinda French Gates Co-chair (2000-2024), Gates Foundation
A farmer, Ding, transplants rice in the fields in Shuinan village, Niutian town, LeAn county, Jiangxi province, China.

We must boost affordable finance for the poorest states

Climate is just one of the crises that require donors to increase contributions to the International Development Association.
By Mark Suzman CEO, Board Member, Gates Foundation