Rural communities around the world are facing growing pressures from biodiversity loss, climate change, and pollution. Vulnerable populations, such as Indigenous Peoples, women, youth, people with disabilities, are often at the forefront of impacts. But they are also at the heart of solutions, holding knowledge, practices, and systems that can help strengthen livelihoods, protect food security, halt biodiversity loss, and tackle climate change.
As a long-standing partner of the Global Environment Facility, FAO implements the GEF Small Grants Program (SGP) to support community-led solutions and initiatives. The Program provides small grants directly to civil society and community-based organizations, helping communities turn their ideas into action.
FAO brings to the Program a wide range of expertise in agriculture, fisheries, forestry, bioenergy, climate-resilient practices, livestock, and land & water. The principles of social inclusion and gender equality are embedded in the way the programme is designed and implemented. This support is currently benefitting 14 countries across Africa, Asia and the Pacific, Europe and Central Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean, to access the GEF’s SGP funding.
By working with the custodians of food and natural resources, the FAO-GEF’s SGP helps communities strengthen resilience, restore ecosystems and secure more sustainable food systems for the future.
Empowering Local Communities to Protect the Environment
Local communities carry generations of traditional knowledge that enable them to manage, protect and restore their natural resources in ways that are resilient and sustainable.
When communities manage forests, deforestation drops, biodiversity thrives, and livelihoods grow, it shows that local stewardship delivers lasting environmental gains.
Empowering communities to manage their own land, water, and wildlife leads to more sustainable resource use, stronger resilience, and healthier ecosystems.
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The FAO-GEF Small Grants Program (SGP) provides funding and FAO technical expertise to empower community-led initiatives that address local priorities to strengthen livelihoods and unlock lasting global environmental benefits.
Where We Are
FAO and the GEF Small Grants Program will support community-led initiatives across 14 countries to deliver Global Environmental Benefits, ensure food security, and improve lives of local communities.
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Chile
Cook Islands
Cuba
Guyana
Indonesia
Jamaica
Kenya
Marshall Islands
South Sudan
Syria
Tajikistan
Uganda
Venezuela
Pillars of Success
