New Green Climate Fund project to strengthen Oman’s capacity to address sea level rise and enhance climate resilience on agriculture and water
February 2022 - The Government of the Sultanate of Oman, through the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries Wealth and Water Resources has signed a USD 949,388 (OMR 365,040), two-year Project Agreement with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) for the project “Building Resilient Environment and Sustainable Agriculture and Water”. The project is financed by the world’s largest climate fund, the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the Government, and will be implemented by the FAO Representation in Oman, in coordination with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources (MAFWR), the national designated authority in the form of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), and Sultan Qaboos University (SQU).
The project, the first of its kind to be implemented in the Sultanate of Oman, will conduct studies, raise awareness and develop solutions to key climate change threats to the country’s agriculture and water sectors, such as sea water intrusion into aquifers and increasing water scarcity. For example, one of the project’s activities will look at main conventional water sources, namely groundwater, including the traditional Aflaj systems, and analyse the impacts and extent of sea water intrusion on groundwater quality and availability. This will help to identify appropriate integrated water management solutions and inform future policy decisions to sustainably manage the resource.
Another activity will be to assess the climate-resilient crops, such as salt-, drought- and heat-tolerant varieties, that will ensure food security and sustainability within a changing climate. These options aim at boosting the local economy, creating jobs, and decreasing rural out-migration, while adapting to the effects of climate change.
This project will be implemented following a multi-stakeholder approach, involving various direct and indirect beneficiaries, including government ministries, the private sector, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), academia, farmers’ organizations and women’s associations. Stakeholders will be brought together and their capacities built on understanding climate impacts and adaptation actions. A central repository for project and investment information on climate-related agriculture and water issues will be developed, to foster the creation of collaborative, informed, multi-disciplinary solutions to the impacts of climate change. Strengthening stakeholder coordination, planning and knowledge mechanisms on the most pressing climate risks to water resources, food security and agriculture will help prepare Oman to access larger-scale climate finance and take advantage of the country’s efforts in mitigating and adapting to climate change.
Note: The Green Climate Fund (GCF) is the largest global fund dedicated to help fight climate change. Set up by the 194 countries who are parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 2010, its objective is to “make a significant and ambitious contribution to the global efforts towards attaining the goals set by the international community to combat climate change.”
More information can be found at https://www.greenclimate.fund/about.