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FAO and the Green Climate Fund (GCF)

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FAO Forestry Giulio Napolitano

FAO-led Green Climate Fund projects driving climate action in Africa

FAO has been scaling up investments in African countries through its partnership with GCF, driving low-emission, climate-resilient development and accelerating green growth. Africa’s agriculture sector is highly vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Extreme weather events – such as large storms, heavy rainfall, and prolonged periods of drought – threaten food security and the livelihoods of millions of rural smallholders, especially the rural poor.

As a GCF Accredited Entity, FAO catalyses large-scale investments in sustainable, climate-resilient agricultural practices that help vulnerable communities adapt to the impacts of climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. High-impact projects have the potential to transform Africa’s agriculture sector, shifting it away from farming practices that drive deforestation and land degradation towards low-carbon and climate-resilient food production, benefitting both people and the environment.

These projects create opportunities for countries to meet the commitments laid out in their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), and are aligned with national strategies and programmes as well as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). About USD 128.4 million in GCF grants and co-financing has been allocated to five FAO-led GCF projects in Benin, Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, the Gambia and Sudan that are aimed at increasing the resilience of rural communities to climate change and protecting livelihoods in the agriculture, forestry and fisheries sectors.

FAO-led GCF projects in Africa
Projects in Africa – key facts

Ouémé Basin Climate Resilience Initiative (OCRI) Benin

  • USD 35.3 million in climate investments for adaptation and mitigation action.
  • About 330 000 small-scale farmers will benefit directly from the project’s adaptation-focused activities, while the Basin’s population of 6 million people will see indirect benefits.
  • Best practices in climate-resilient land and water management will be applied across 95 000 hectares of agricultural land in the Ouémé basin.
  • 1.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent will be avoided over the project’s 20-year lifespan.
  • GCF Priority Groups: African States, Least Developed Countries.

PREFOREST CONGO – Project to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from forests in five departments in the Republic of Congo

  • USD 46.6 million in climate investments for adaptation and mitigation action.
  • Over 900 000 people, including smallholder farmers in critical areas of the country, will benefit from sustainable agroforestry approaches, such as tree, crop and livestock management.
  • 16.7 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions will be avoided over 20 years.
  • GCF Priority Group: African State.

Promoting zero-deforestation cocoa production for reducing emissions in Côte d’Ivoire (PROMIRE)

  • USD 11.7 million in climate investments for adaptation and mitigation action.
  • Over 600 000 poor people who depend on cocoa farming for their livelihoods will benefit from improved incomes with sustainable, organic, fair-trade cocoa production.
  • 5.5 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions will be avoided over 20 years through sustainable forest and land use.
  • GCF Priority Group: African State.

Climate Resilient Fishery Initiative for Livelihood Improvement in the Gambia (PROREFISH)

  • USD 25 million in climate investments for adaptation and mitigation action.
  • About 168 000 vulnerable women and men who depend on the fisheries value chain will benefit directly from the project.
  • Over 2 300 hectares of mangrove forests will be restored.
  • More than 238 000 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent will be avoided over the project's 20-year lifespan.
  • GCF Priority Groups: African States, Least Developed Countries.

Gums for Adaptation and Mitigation in Sudan (GAMS): Enhancing adaptive capacity of local communities and restoring carbon sink potential of the Gum Arabic belt, expanding Africa’s Great Green Wall

  • USD 10 million in climate investments for adaptation and mitigation action.
  • About 1.6 million people will benefit from the project, including smallholder gum arabic producers and pastoralists.
  • 75 000 ha of gum agroforestry systems and 275 000 ha of rangeland will be restored.
  • 9.23 million tonnes of emissions will be avoided through sustainable land-use practices.
  • GCF Priority Group: African State & Least Developed Country.
Fact sheet