The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has welcomed the Green Climate Fund’s (GCF) decision to approve funding for three new projects in Bolivia, Cambodia and the Philippines, valued at $151.3 million.
The national initiatives, supported by FAO, are focused on fostering climate change adaptation and resilience for smallholder farmers, local communities, and other value chain actors in three nations facing increasing weather and climate-related threats to their agricultural practices and livelihoods.
“Innovation in climate finance can trigger transformative change towards more inclusive and sustainable agrifood systems”, said FAO Deputy Director-General Maria Helena Semedo. “The approval of these three projects shows how, by leveraging global partnerships, FAO can help strengthen adaptation and resilience capacities of rural communities, especially women and Indigenous Peoples. This contributes to the implementation of the FAO Strategy on Climate Change 2022-2031.”
The funding announcement was made during the thirty-fifth meeting of the GCF Board held in Songdo, Incheon, Republic of Korea from 13-16 March.
“These projects in Cambodia, Bolivia and the Philippines demonstrate how partnerships can deliver innovative climate solutions for some of the world’s most vulnerable countries”, said Yannick Glemarec, GCF Executive Director. “Supporting efforts to transition to climate-resilient food and agriculture systems is a key priority for GCF.”
Projects benefiting both people and planet
In the Philippines, — a nation expected to experience increasingly more frequent and catastrophic extreme weather events, such as tropical storms, droughts, floods, and irregular precipitation—a $39.2 million investment ($26.2 GCF grant and $12.9 million co-financing) aims to adapt agricultural systems to climate change.
Over seven years, the project will benefit directly more than 1.25 million people, mainly low-income smallholder farmers in nine regions and five vulnerable provinces, by raising their awareness of risks and risk-reduction measures, building their capacity on climate-resilient agriculture practices and enterprises, and incorporating climate-resilient technologies into their work.
At the national level, the initiative aims to incorporate climate-resilient agriculture into the development agendas of both the national government and local government units.
The project, co-financed by the Department of Agriculture and the Philippine Atmospheric and the Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, is expected to also reduce 4.38 metric tons of carbon emissions over 20 years, thanks to better land use and climate-friendly agriculture practices.
The initiative will also generate socioeconomic co-benefits such as increasing farmers’ incomes, and thanks to the Land Bank of the Philippines, will enable farmers’ enterprises to access lending programs.