Nanmo: A partnership for access, adaptation, and growth

Much of the global climate discussion rightly focuses on mitigation: limiting global warming and greenhouse gas emissions by turning to cleaner and more efficient energy sources. But as the devastating effects of climate change continue to play out across the world, closer attention needs to be paid to adaptation: the solutions that help those who need it most adapt to changes that are already taking place.

Global average increases in farm productivity over the past 60 years are already 20% lower than they would have been without climate change; in some African countries, the increases are at least 40% lower than they would have been. Agriculture—a primary source of food, employment, and income in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia—has a strong track record of providing an effective pathway out of poverty.

Nanmo invests in innovative, climate-adaptive agriculture to build resilient food systems and markets that provide nutrition, income, and economic opportunities to smallholder farmers and livestock keepers—as well as their communities.

Despite significant progress in recent decades, 80% of farmers in sub-Saharan Africa—the vast majority of whom are women—don’t have access to the tools and resources they need to be productive and build resilience in the face of climate change. It is unjust that smallholder farmers who have contributed the least to the climate crisis are suffering the severest impacts. Nanmo works to give them access to the farming innovations and resources they need and deserve, thereby improving their livelihoods, alleviating poverty, enhancing food security, and promoting the economic empowerment of women and youth. Ensuring that women, youth, and small-scale producers contribute to and benefit from decisions about how their communities grow food, create jobs, and build resilience strengthens economies as well as ecosystems.

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are deeply interconnected. Public-private partnerships have the potential to significantly advance progress toward achieving multiple SDGs by putting the full strength of their shared expertise, experience, and funding behind key initiatives that tackle poverty, hunger, health, inequality, climate change, water scarcity, and more.

Nanmo invests in projects that align with country priorities, to maximize impact, and works to build capacity among its partners and participants, generating measurable results with sustainable impact.

Nanmo is an Arabic word that can be translated as “growing together.”

Here’s what that means to us:

• Growing food together: We invest in climate-adaptive agriculture to promote lasting food security for smallholder farmers and livestock keepers, their families, and their communities.
• Growing opportunity together: We invest in women, youth, and smallholder farmers and livestock keepers to spur inclusive economic development.
• Growing capacity together: We invest in capacity building, laying the foundation for long-term impact.
• Growing momentum together: The foundation’s partnership with the Qatar Fund for Development helps both organizations accelerate progress toward the SDGs.
• Growing resilience together: We help people who are already living with the effects of climate change adapt to a fast-changing planet.