AAAP in the Media
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Staple Crops Processing Zone (SCPZ): funding proposal to the Green Climate Fund
The target countries of Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Togo and Zambia are regions experiencing high deforestation, poor agriculture yield and increasing poverty exacerbated by climate change. Across all four countries, climate variability and change has become a major threat to sustainable development.
As part of efforts to address these challenges, the four countries are implementing national projects to establish Staple Crops Processing Zones: initiatives designed to concentrate agro-processing activities within areas of high agricultural potential to boost productivity and integrate production, processing and marketing of selected commodities. These initiatives are purposely built shared facilities, to enable agricultural producers, processors, aggregators and distributors to operate in the same vicinity to reduce transaction costs and share business development services for increased productivity and competitiveness.
Developing adequate infrastructure (energy, water, roads, ICT) in rural areas of high agricultural potential should attract investments from private agro-industrialists/entrepreneurs to contribute to the economic and social development of rural areas.
The Staple Crops Processing Zone (SCPZ) development program aims to transform agriculture production in regions experiencing high deforestation, poor agriculture yield and increasing poverty exacerbated by climate change, including the target countries of Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Togo and Zambia.
The specific objectives of SCPZ are: (i) improving access to seed capital through grants and matching grants; (ii) supporting productivity enhancement through introduction of new technologies and agricultural inputs; (iii) improving access to infrastructure by supporting investment; (iv) improving the capacity of producer cooperative through training and TA, especially for targeted women and youth groups; (v) facilitating market linkages throughout-growers’ schemes; and (vi) facilitating on-farm value addition by targeting limited value chains and linking farmers to the supply chain.
GCF financing is sought to strengthen one of the project components of SCPZ in Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Togo and Zambia.
- Through the technical assistance program, AAAPwill accelerate the mobilization of adaptation finance.
- Increased carbon sinks in soil and above-ground biomass
- Reduced carbon dioxide/other greenhouse gas emissions from farms due to efficient energy use
- Increased renewable energy production from biomass, either as a substitute for fossil fuels or as a replacement for burning of fuel wood or crop residues
- Fewer incidents of bare soils, reduced soil erosion and increased water percolation.
- Reduced emissions through low-emission energy access and power generation
- Reduced emissions due to improved waste management, including by recycling waste and use of waste in biogas systems
- Reduction of emissions from land use and deforestation, and enhancement of forest carbon stocks.
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Increased resilience, including to extreme events such as droughts and floods, and enhanced livelihood of about 55% of highly vulnerable people and communities
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Increased access to better health and wellbeing, and food and water security to over 100,000 beneficiaries, in addition to provision of alternative sources of energy
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Increased resilience of ecosystems and ecosystem services in forests and savannas
USD 427 million:
- Funding proposal to GCF seeking USD 174.02 million (USD 130.02 million grant and USD 44 million loan)
- AfDB providing USD 111.2 million (USD 85.2 million loan and USD 26 million grant)
- Co-financiers:
European Union, USD 10.4 million (grant)
BOAD, USD 17.6 million (loan)
Korea Exim Bank, USD 50 million (loan)
Korea Fund, USD 5 million (grant)
Islamic Development Bank, USD 31 million (loan)
Governments of target countries, USD 28 million (counterpart financing)
Reinforcing Resilience to Food and Nutrition Insecurity in the Sahel (P2-P2RS)
The Sahel, which lies between the Sahara Desert to the north and tropical savannas to the south, is one of the largest semi-arid/arid sub-regions globally. As such, the region is highly vulnerable to climate change and other uncertainties. The impacts of climate change may have critical socio-economic consequences for the Sahel, including poor agricultural yields, increased frequency of natural disasters. Already, the number of people in the Sahel suffering from chronic food and nutrition insecurity, poverty and vulnerability to the effects of climate change is rising steadily.
A lasting solution to food and nutrition insecurity in the Sahel requires building resilience to climate change, long-term agricultural sector financing and developing trade and regional integration. Sustained, longer-term investments in household resilience can significantly reduce the cost of emergency assistance, ultimately breaking the cycle of recurring famine. This is the most cost-effective intervention option which meets the basic needs and preserves the dignity of the populations of the Sahel. This idea is central to the Programme to Build Resilience to Food and Nutrition Insecurity in the Sahel (P2RS)
The overall objective of the P2-P2RS is to contribute to the substantial improvement of the living conditions and the food and nutritional security of the populations of the Sahel region.
Specifically, the program aims to i) strengthen the resilience to climate change of agro-sylvo-pastoral producers, including through promotion of climate-smart agricultural technologies in the Sahel and the development of climate intelligent villages; ii) develop the agro-sylvo-pastoral value chains, including through the development and improvement of hydro, meteorology and climate services; and iii) support regional institutions (CILSS, APGMV, CCRS) to strengthen adaptive capacity in the Sahel.
- Design digital adaptation solutions (Digital Climate Advisory Services, DCAS) for the Sahel context
- Investment readiness and infrastructure, institutional and farmer capacity needs for DCAS
- Feasibility study to integrate DCAS into agricultural extension and agrometeorological advisory to smallholder farmers and pastoralists
- 1 million rural households have access to digital or data-enabled climate-smart technologies
- 500,000 smallholders have adopted adaptation practices
- 5 million smallholders have access to climate services;
- Development and improvement of hydro, meteorology and climate services
- The development of climate-intelligent villages
- Promotion of climate-smart agricultural technologies in the Sahel
- Resilience to food and nutrition security built for the targeted populations
USD 300 million
Global Center on Adaptation and African Development Bank call for applications for the African Youth Adaptation Solutions Challenge
The Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) and the African Development Bank have launched a call for applications for the first edition of the African Youth Adaptation Solutions (YouthAdapt) Challenge.
The call encourages young entrepreneurs, innovators from micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and other youth-led and youth-owned enterprises in Africa, to implement solutions for building resilience and adapting to the adverse impacts of climate change. Young entrepreneurs between the ages of 18 and 35 are invited to respond to the call for the expression of interest and submit their business plan through the official submission portal.
With a strong focus on youth and gender, winners of the YouthAdapt Challenge will be awarded business grants of up to $100,000 each and the opportunity to participate in a 12-month business accelerator program to help them scale up their businesses, deepen their impact and create decent jobs. In addition, the winning youth-led enterprises will be provided with mentorship and support to expand partnerships, knowledge sharing and learning through a network of young entrepreneurs in climate adaptation.
The African Youth Adaptations Solutions Challenge is part of the ‘Empowering Youth through Jobs and Entrepreneurship’ pillar of the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP), a strategic partnership between the GCA and the African Development Bank aimed at galvanizing climate-resilient actions through a triple win approach to address the impacts of Covid-19, climate change and the economy.
The competition aims to leverage the resources, complementary expertise and networks of both organizations to support the ‘missing-middle’ of mid-sized companies in the areas of funding, thereby promoting sustainable climate adaptation and resilience practices on the African continent.
Announcing the YouthAdapt Challenge to a group of global leaders at the High-Level Dialogue: The Adaptation Acceleration Imperative for COP26 held in Rotterdam, Netherlands on Monday 6th September 2021, Patrick Verkooijen, CEO of the Global Center on Adaptation said: “Our vision is to empower one million young people in Africa with the financing and skills they need to pursue jobs and careers in climate adaptation. With this new challenge we aim to unlock the business opportunities in adaptation action by innovative youth-owned enterprises and prepare a new generation of African youth for the transition towards green and climate-resilient development.”
“The YouthAdapt Challenge will unleash the entrepreneurial drive and capacities of African youth to grow their businesses, address the continent’s pressing climate challenge and create decent jobs, building a more climate-resilient Africa”, said Akinwumi Adesina, African Development Bank’s President, affirming the Bank’s commitment to invest in the youth.
Twenty youth-led enterprises will be shortlisted at the end of the application window on 6th October 2021 and invited to submit videos for a jury panel review ahead of the finals and an award ceremony at COP26 in Glasgow on November 8, 2021. At this event, ten winners will be selected, 50% of which will be women-led enterprises.