Germany provides an additional €5 million to support to joint effort
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| MORINGA seedlings at a tree nursery in the highlands of Tanzania, part of an FAO project to strengthen farmers' capacity to cope with climate change. (FAO) |
Paris—A United Nation Programme working to help countries include
climate-related risks in national planning and budgeting processes—especially
those that affect the agriculture sector - is getting an additional €5
million in support from the government of Germany, bringing the country's total
backing for this work up to €15 million.
Through
the recently established Integrating Agriculture in National Adaptation
Plans programme, FAO and UNDP are working with ministries of agriculture,
environment, finance and planning in Nepal, Kenya, the Philippines, Thailand,
Uganda, Uruguay, Viet Nam and Zambia. The aim is to strengthen local technical
skills in the use of climate risk management strategies, adjust planning and
budgeting processes to incorporate climate change risks, and support farmers -
especially women—in adopting best practices in climate change adaptation.
The
two UN agencies will use the additional financing—provided by Germany 's
Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear
Safety (BMUB) under the auspices of its International Climate Initiative
(IKI)—to scale up this work as well as expand it to three more countries.
"The
additional finance from the Government of Germany will be catalytic to assist
countries to put into place the requisite national systems and capacities to
scale up climate risk management in the critical area of food security and
livelihoods," said German Environment Minister Barbara Hendricks.
A
broad and complementary programme of work
The four-year
UNDP-FAO initiative is part of UNDP's portfolio of assistance to countries on
climate change adaptation. It sits alongside other ongoing efforts to
strengthen the national adaptation plans processes financed by the Least
Developed Country Fund ($4.7 million), the Special Climate Change Fund ($2.25
million), as well as bilateral donors.
It
will be complemented by additional support extended by UNDP to countries with
financing from the Special Climate Change Fund, Green Climate Fund as well as
support from bilateral donors such as Germany, Japan, Canada and
Australia.
A
related initiative is the Caribbean Climate Change Partnership, which similarly
aims to support countries in developing their National Climate Adaptation
Plans. This work is being implemented by UNDP with funding from the Government
of Japan to the tune of $15 million for the 2015-2017 period.
For,
FAO the joint effort dovetails with a series of global programmes the
agency is running to help countries develop and implement policy frameworks and
institutional arrangements aimed at promoting sustainable agricultural
development under climate change.
Since
2009, FAO has implemented some 300 projects and programmes addressing climate
change adaptation and mitigation in agriculture, forestry and fisheries and
aquaculture. Through its network of climate change professionals in its various
technical units, FAO is supporting countries in diverse ways, from policy
design, to improved practices and capacity development.
The
scaling up of the FAO-UNDP partnership made possible by Germany's latest
contribution will help FAO expand the number of countries supported as well as South-South exchanges
between developing countries, strengthening data gathering and evidence-based
monitoring and evaluation on a global scale, and promoting gender equality in
agricultural development.
Meeting needs
The financial
support provided by Germany addresses major concerns of many of the world's
most vulnerable countries, as voiced by Uganda and Nepal.
"For many of us in Uganda, climate change is no longer a distant threat;
it is a reality and a sign of what lies ahead. It is also important to
note that climate change knows no boundaries. There is no institution that can
deal with this on its own. This is a problem that needs to be addressed by all
of us working together by sharing resources and technologies," said
Vincent Ssempijja, Ugandan Minister of State for Agriculture. "The process
of developing National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) has started, and agriculture is
a champion in developing their sector specific NAP and mainstreaming
guidelines."
Haribol
Prasad Gajurel, Minister of Agricultural Development, Government of Nepal
added: "This is a crucial moment for agriculture in Nepal. The sector is
very vulnerable and farmers are facing difficulties in coping with the
challenges posed by climate change, such as erratic rainfalls, shifting monsoon
conditions and insurgence of disease-pests. In this connection, we are working
to strengthen capacities to adapt to climate change. We welcome the opportunity
offered by FAO and UNDP and are glad to be partners in the "Integrating
Agriculture in National Adaptation Plans" initiative. This is an important
chance to shape our own adaptation plans for the future of our country."
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