[T]he impacts of climate change are threatening maize yields and millions of farmers across Africa...Public-private partnerships provide a useful approach for addressing the complexities of sustainable agricultural development and the global food security challenge...In response to a growing call by African farmers, leaders, and scientists, a new public-private partnership called Water Efficient Maize for Africa (WEMA), was formed in 2008 to help address the effects of drought in a way that is cost effective for African smallholder farmers...Coordinated by the African Agricultural Technology Foundation, a not-for-profit organization, WEMA works with private agricultural companies such as Monsanto and BASF...Since WEMA began in 2008 there have been excellent gains in drought tolerance, utilizing traditional breeding methods, in each of the five participating countries.