The Africa Climate Change Fund (ACCF) has approved the allocation of 4.7 million dollars for the implementation of seven projects on the continent. The projects will build resilience to climate change and support low-carbon development in the countries concerned. These are Mozambique, Sudan, Senegal, Benin, Lesotho, Kenya and Uganda. These initiatives are supported by the Climate Change and Green Growth Department of the African Development Bank (AfDB).
In Sudan, the NGO Zenab for women in development (ZWD) will implement a project to strengthen climate resilience. This includes equipping both youth and women farmers to build a climate resilient ecosystem while promoting food security and sustainable growth. A similar project will also be supported in Kenya and Uganda respectively. Also in this sector, synthetic agriculture will be tested in Mozambique.
Syntropy is a mechanism for soil rehabilitation using the natural process of species succession. This model will make it possible to better preserve areas that serve as arable land, since they will be continually renewed. In Ivory Coast, a project to support agricultural resilience will be piloted to support small-scale cocoa farmers in the Soubre and Sinfra districts (located in southwestern and central western Ivory) respectively. The latter are very vulnerable to the climate, particularly drought and floods.
Benin and Lesotho will be entitled to the Local Climate Adaptive Living facility. A project that will support local governments in the implementation of climate resilient projects, especially through the use of grants based on project performance criteria. In Senegal a project will be implemented with a view to removing barriers to access to green finance. In the same vein, a National Contributions Club will be set up to facilitate access to finance in countries such as Cameroon, Namibia, Uganda and Sao Tome and Principe.
The African Climate Change Fund is a mechanism that the African Development Bank (AfDB) established in April 2014 to support climate change resilience on the continent. With this new funding, the number of projects financed by the ACCF now stands at 15 and its geographical scope and field of intervention is also expanded. The fund’s main focuses are institutional capacity building, mainstreaming climate change and green growth into programmes and projects, and preparing African countries for access to green finance.
Luchelle Feukeng