Four Years of UN Farm-Climate Talks End at COP31. Africa’s Negotiators Say 0.3% of the Money Reaches Farmers. Sudan Should Back the Fix.

The UN climate process's four-year agriculture workstream ends at COP31 in Antalya with no successor agreed. African negotiators want finance that reaches farmers. Sudan, where about 40% of workers are in farming, should back that push.

The Sharm el-Sheikh joint work on agriculture and food security reaches the end of its four-year mandate at COP31 in Antalya, 9–20 November 2026. African negotiators want its successor to deliver finance that reaches farmers. (Illustration: 3Bi)

3Bi Situation Report — Climate & Energy Desk | First edition | Information cut-off: 25 October 2026, 04:00 UTC

Headline Fact

The UN climate process’s dedicated workstream on agriculture reaches the end of its mandate at COP31 in Antalya next month, and governments have not yet agreed what replaces it. The Sharm el-Sheikh joint work on implementation of climate action on agriculture and food security was set up at COP27 as a four-year process and is due to conclude at COP31, where the subsidiary bodies must report on its progress and outcomes (UNFCCC, agriculture workstream page, accessed 25 October 2026; Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, 3 June 2026). On 24 October, Stephen Muwaya of the Africa Group of Negotiators set out what African delegations will push for. He said the share of climate-related development finance going to food systems fell from 47% to 19% between 2000 and 2023, that international climate finance allocated to agriculture is “4% or less”, and that only 0.3% of total financing reaches farmers, pastoralists and other vulnerable groups (Science Africa, 24 October 2026). The group’s asks are grant-based and concessional finance that is predictable and accessible, simplified accreditation so that national institutions can apply directly, and readiness and project-preparation support to turn national farm priorities into “bankable projects”. For Sudan, where agriculture accounts for about 40% of employment (World Bank, World Development Indicators, ILO modelled estimate for 2022, data updated 8 October 2026), the outcome in Antalya will shape how farm adaptation is financed for the rest of the decade.

Timeline

• November 2017: At COP23, governments launch the Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture, a four-year programme on soils, livestock, water use and food security (Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, 3 June 2026).

• 21 August 2020: The GCF Board approves Sudan’s largest single-country GCF project, a UNDP programme for rain-fed farmers and pastoralists, with US$25.6 million in grant funding (Green Climate Fund, FP139 project page, accessed 25 October 2026).

• November 2022: COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh follows it with the Sharm el-Sheikh joint work, a four-year process focused on implementation, and an online portal for sharing projects, initiatives and policies (Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, 3 June 2026; UNFCCC, agriculture workstream page, accessed 25 October 2026).

• 8–10 June 2026: At the Bonn sessions, the joint work holds its second in-session workshop, on identifying needs and accessing the means of implementation for climate action in agriculture (FAO, Sharm el-Sheikh joint work page, accessed 25 October 2026).

• 17 June 2026: The subsidiary bodies’ draft conclusions defer two reports to the November sessions, invite the operating entities of the Financial Mechanism to take the joint work’s outcomes into account in their workplans, and underline the portal’s role in “matchmaking for funding” (UNFCCC, FCCC/SB/2026/L.1, 17 June 2026).

• 31 July 2026: The World Farmers’ Organisation writes to the COP31 Presidency asking for the joint work to be extended beyond COP31 (World Farmers’ Organisation, October 2026).

• 5 October 2026: The fourth COP31 Presidency letter, signed by President-Designate Murat Kurum and President of Negotiations Chris Bowen, says the joint work “has provided valuable lessons” and commits to “work with Parties to capture the outcomes of this work and to identify next steps” (as quoted by the World Farmers’ Organisation, October 2026).

• 19 October 2026: The UNFCCC secretariat briefs delegates on what the subsidiary bodies must consider on agriculture in Antalya (UNFCCC, agriculture workstream page, accessed 25 October 2026).

• 21–24 October 2026: IGAD convenes experts in Arba Minch, Ethiopia, on digital agro-climate advisory services. Sudan is one of seven member states that present national experience (IGAD, 24 October 2026).

• 24 October 2026: The Africa Group of Negotiators’ agriculture asks are made public at a regional media café (Science Africa, 24 October 2026).

What We Know / What We Don’t

We know the decision in Antalya is open. A June discussion paper from the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions lists the options: continue the joint work, conclude it, launch a dialogue series, create a new agenda item or work programme, establish a new constituted body, or hand the issue to a COP31 Presidency initiative. If governments conclude the joint work without a successor, the paper notes, agriculture would continue only under the Global Climate Action Agenda, through non-state actors (Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, 3 June 2026). The same paper suggests that any new work could be linked to the second global stocktake, which begins at COP31, and timed to conclude in 2030.

We know what the African group wants the successor to do. Muwaya described the joint work’s central purpose as moving “from planning and discussion to on ground implementation of action”. He called the online portal “the bridge to implementation”, meant to match national projects with finance, technical support and partners (Science Africa, 24 October 2026). The technologies he listed as needing support include climate information services, sustainable water management, digital agriculture, post-harvest management and agro-processing.

We know Bonn left the substance for Antalya. Two reports, one on holistic approaches to farm and food-system climate action and one synthesising what UN bodies and climate funds have done under the joint work, were pushed to the November sessions (UNFCCC, FCCC/SB/2026/L.1, 17 June 2026). The draft conclusions record that governments are increasingly including agriculture and food security in their national plans, and that the portal was improved with funding from Germany, Norway and Switzerland.

We know Sudan is active in the regional technical work. At the IGAD meeting, Sudan was among the member states that presented national experience in agro-climate advisory services. Participants recommended national coordination arrangements, regional minimum standards for data quality and data sharing, and training for extension workers and community trainers (IGAD, 24 October 2026). We also know where Sudan’s main farm-climate finance stands: the UNDP rain-fed agriculture project has disbursed 44% of its GCF funding and is due to be completed on 21 September 2027 (Green Climate Fund, FP139 project page, accessed 25 October 2026).

We do not know whether Sudan has listed projects or policies on the Sharm el-Sheikh online portal, or whether it has made a submission under the joint work; 3Bi could not verify either in this run. Nor do we know which option the COP31 Presidency will favour, or whether the African group’s call for simplified accreditation will be taken up in the agriculture text or left to the climate funds’ own boards. Muwaya’s figures were given at a media event; 3Bi has not seen the underlying dataset and reports them as his.

Implications

In our reading, the question for Antalya is less whether agriculture keeps a UN agenda item and more whether whatever follows is built to move money. Bonn already asked the climate funds to take the joint work into account. The African group is asking for the next step: a process that turns national farm plans into fundable projects and opens direct access for national institutions. If the joint work simply closes, that link weakens just as the second global stocktake starts.

Sudan has a direct stake. A country where about four in ten workers are in agriculture, and whose largest GCF project is a farm-resilience programme due to end in less than a year, needs a pipeline for what comes next. The asks the African group is making, simpler accreditation and paid project preparation, are the ones that would help a Sudanese ministry or national bank put forward its own farm adaptation projects rather than relying on international agencies to do so.

In our view, three low-cost steps follow before 9 November. First, Sudan’s delegation could state its support in Antalya for a successor process with a clear finance and implementation function, in line with the African group’s position. Second, the Ministry of Agriculture, working with the Higher Council for Environment and Natural Resources as Sudan’s GCF focal point, could check what Sudan has on the Sharm el-Sheikh portal and add its existing farm-climate projects and plans, so that the matchmaking the portal is meant to offer has something Sudanese to match. Third, Sudan could use the IGAD agro-climate advisory network, where it already presents its experience, to prepare a regional or national concept for the follow-on to its rain-fed agriculture project before September 2027.

3Bi is not claiming that a new agriculture process would by itself raise Sudan’s share of climate finance, or that the portal is a funding source. It is a listing and matchmaking tool. The point is narrower: the rules for how farm adaptation is discussed under the UN climate process are being rewritten next month, and Sudan’s interest lies in rules that end in projects.

Watch Next

• 26–29 October 2026: The GCF Board meets in Songdo with 21 funding proposals, of which direct-access entities account for 34 per cent of the requested funding in grant-equivalent terms, a reference point for the African group’s direct-access asks (Green Climate Fund, GCF/B.46/02, 5 October 2026; annotated agenda, 20 October 2026).

• November 2026: The 65th sessions of the subsidiary bodies in Antalya consider the two deferred reports and the second workshop report, and report to COP31 on the joint work’s progress and outcomes (UNFCCC, agriculture workstream page, accessed 25 October 2026).

• 9–20 November 2026: COP31 in Antalya decides what follows the joint work (UNFCCC, COP31 page, accessed 22 October 2026).

• 21 September 2027: Scheduled completion of Sudan’s UNDP rain-fed agriculture project (Green Climate Fund, FP139 project page, accessed 25 October 2026).

Sourcing & Next Update

Primary sources: UNFCCC, “Issues related to agriculture and food security” workstream page (accessed 25 October 2026) and FCCC/SB/2026/L.1, draft conclusions on the Sharm el-Sheikh joint work (17 June 2026); Science Africa, “COP 31: African Negotiators to Push for Action on Agricultural Climate Finance” (24 October 2026); IGAD, “IGAD Advances Regional Collaboration on Digital Agro-Climate Advisory Services and Gender-Responsive Food Systems” (24 October 2026); World Farmers’ Organisation, “COP31 Agriculture: Presidency Letter Echoes WFO’s Priorities” (October 2026); Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, “Issues and Options: The Future of Agriculture and Food Security Discussions Under the UNFCCC” (3 June 2026); FAO, Sharm el-Sheikh joint work page (accessed 25 October 2026); World Bank, World Development Indicators, employment in agriculture, Sudan (data updated 8 October 2026); Green Climate Fund, FP139 project page (accessed 25 October 2026), GCF/B.46/02 “Consideration of funding proposals” (5 October 2026) and B.46 annotated agenda (20 October 2026); UNFCCC, COP31 page. For methodology questions or to propose a correction, contact 3Bi’s Research Team via 3bisudan.org.

Next update expected after the subsidiary bodies conclude their agriculture discussions in Antalya, or if Sudan publishes a position on the future of the joint work.

3Bi Research Team. This piece was produced through 3Bi’s automated daily publications workflow, which monitors regional and international climate and energy reporting.

This publication is produced with support from 3Bi’s institutional donors; see the full funder list at 3bisudan.org.