Farmers Review Africa Sept/Oct 2018 FRA - September - October 2018 digital 5 | Page 8

NEWS
New IFAD, the Lab Partnership to Fund African
Smallholder Farmers’ Climate Change Initiatives
T
he International Fund for
Agricultural Development (IFAD)
and the Global Innovation Lab
for Climate Finance (the Lab) have
formed a new partnership that is set to
finance initiatives from smallholder farmers
combating climate change.
The funds will go towards helping to
build climate resilience for smallholder
farmers in Central and West Africa by
developing and scaling up innovative
financial instruments. This partnership
follows the realization that there is an
urgent need to spur greater investment
into climate action. This is more so in
the agriculture sector in p0articular
and especially smallholder farmers
who are vulnerable to the impacts of
climate change.
Effects of climate change
According to a 2015 FAO report, the
frequency and magnitude of natural
hazards triggered by climate change
has been increasing globally, leading
to US $1.5t in economic damages
from 2003 to 2013. This in addition to
irreversible negative impacts on human
6 |September - October 2018
and ecosystem health and threats to
local and global food security.
Unfortunately, current investments in
adaptation constitute only a fraction of
what is needed. According to Climate
Policy Initiative’s Global Landscape
of Climate Finance report, only 16%
(US $23Bn) of total public climate
finance in 2016 can be attributed to
adaptation activities. $1.15Bn for renewable energy, energy
efficiency, adaptation, and climate-
smart agriculture projects in developing countries.
Associate Vice President IFAD
Charlotte Salford explains that food,
farming, and climate are inextricably
linked together. She went on to add
that on the other hand, the world is yet
to match up to the reality of climate
change with reference to the finances
allocated to agriculture. This, she adds,
has an adverse effect on the world’s
poor who have the most to lose. Earlier this year IFAD launched a
second phase of its Adaptation for
Smallholder Agriculture Program
(ASAP) through generous contributions
by the governments of Norway and
Sweden. Through this program, IFAD
will be sponsoring the development of
two instruments within a new thematic
stream for smallholder agriculture
financing in the Lab’s 2018-2019
cycle, starting in October 2018.
The Lab initiatives
The Lab is a network of public and
private investors that identifies,
develops, and launches transformative
climate finance instruments. Since its
start in 2014, instruments developed
by the Lab have mobilized over US
IFAD will be joining the Lab, bringing
its expertise on agriculture financing
to complement the Lab’s membership
of private investors, governments,
development finance institutions,
philanthropies, and financial experts.
Following an international call for
proposals, Lab members will select the
top two ideas for this stream, which
will then go on to receive rigorous
analytical support.