The Green Climate Fund (GCF) has approved $222 million investment in a regional climate resilience programme across eight African countries, including Nigeria, aimed at combating desertification and improving livelihoods in the Sahel.
The fund is part of the $300 million climate finance package announced by the GCF in partnership with the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations.
The newly approved “Scaling-Up Resilience in Africa’s Great Green Wall” (SURAGGWA) programme is the largest multi-country funding ever mobilised by FAO and will directly support agro pastoral and pastoral communities living in semi-arid regions of the Sahel, one of the most climate-vulnerable zones in the world.
Nigeria, alongside Burkina Faso, Chad, Djibouti, Mali, Mauritania, Niger and Senegal, is set to implement land restoration projects that will help restore degraded lands, boost climate-smart agriculture and generate sustainable livelihoods.
The initiative will scale up the use of native plant species, promote low-emission and climate-resilient value chains and enhance food security in rural communities.
The FAO director general, QU Dongyu, noted the significance of the projects at the 42nd GCF Board meeting held in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
“Through sustainable forestry management, fisheries transformation and land restoration, these FAO-designed projects will make a significant difference to the lives and livelihoods of these vulnerable communities,” he said.
In Nigeria and across the Sahel, up to 70 per cent of rural populations rely on rain-fed agriculture with the region facing intensified pressure from land degradation, conflict over resources, and rising climate extremes.
SURAGGWA is positioned to strengthen resilience and also contribute to the African Union’s Great Green Wall ambition of restoring 100 million hectares of degraded land and creating 10 million jobs by 2030.
As part of the programme, Nigeria will also benefit from institutional strengthening aimed at enhancing monitoring systems and securing additional financing for long-term climate adaptation strategies.
The FAO-GCF partnership now commands a climate finance portfolio exceeding $1.8 billion globally, with projects that focus on transforming agrifood systems through science-based and locally driven solutions.
The Green Climate Fund is the world’s largest dedicated climate fund, established to support developing countries in responding to the challenges of climate change.
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