GCA and Int’l Fund for Agricultural Dev’t partner to boost agricultural resilience and adaptation in Africa

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) today signed a partnership agreement that will enable the organizations to join forces to strengthen adaptation and resilience in agriculture, with a particular focus on Africa.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed this afternoon by IFAD President Alvaro Lario Hervas and GCA CEO Prof. Dr. Patrick Verkooijen at the GCA Pavilion at COP27.

The agreement reinforces the organizations’ commitment to increasing food security and rural well-being on the African continent, one of the world’s most climate-vulnerable regions.

IFAD and GCA will capitalize on the synergies between the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP) and IFAD’s rural adaptation and resilience portfolio in Africa. The AAAP was launched by the African Development Bank and GCA to mobilize $25 billion by 2025 for climate adaptation in food security, resilient infrastructure, adaptation jobs and climate finance.

In its first 18 months of operation, the AAAP’s Upstream Financing Facility influenced more than $3.5 billion in upstream investments with Multilateral Development Banks in 19 countries across Africa, and will support the preparation of adaptation activities in these areas.

The two organizations plan to work jointly to support the design and implementation of climate-smart digital technologies in agriculture in Africa, capacity-building efforts for smallholder farmers and producers’ organizations, and knowledge exchange and acceleration.

The organizations will also support local capacity-building efforts on agricultural risk management and collaborate on advocacy efforts to raise political awareness on the adaptation needs of smallholder farmers in Africa, particularly women and youth, and the role of digital solutions for adaptation.

IFAD also plans to contribute to future editions of  GCA’s annual flagship State and Trends in Adaptation Report. The State and Trends in Adaptation in Africa 2022 (STA22) report was launched ahead of COP27 on 3rd November, and focuses on adaptation at the core of a prosperous African continent.

IFAD contributed to the 2021 edition of the report, with valuable examples of adaptation in Africa, and an insert on supporting smallholder agriculture and IFAD’s growing role in adaptation.

Dr. Lario Hervas participated in the Africa Adaptation Summit hosted by GCA in Rotterdam in September, where he highlighted the need to focus the implementation of the climate adaptation agenda on those who suffer the worst impacts of the climate emergency – rural poor people and small-scale producers.

The Africa Adaptation Summit, co-chaired by President Macky Sall, brought together African and global leaders with the goal of accelerating climate action on the ground in Africa ahead of COP27, resulting in a five-point plan “Adaptation Breakthrough for Africa at COP27” outlining the key determinants of success for Africa at COP27.

About the International Fund for Agricultural Development

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) is an international financial institution and a specialized agency of the United Nations dedicated to eradicating poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing countries. Based in Rome, the UN’s food and agriculture hub, IFAD is the only multilateral development institution that focuses exclusively on transforming rural economies and food systems.

IFAD acts as a catalyst for increasing public and private investments in agriculture and the development of rural enterprises. It places poor rural women and men at the center of its activities. IFAD works in remote regions of developing countries and fragile situations, where few aid agencies or international financial institutions venture.

About the Global Center on Adaptation

The Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) is an international organization which works as a solutions broker to accelerate action and support for adaptation solutions, from the international to the local, in partnership with the public and private sector.

Founded in 2018, GCA operates from its headquarters in the largest floating office in the world, located in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. GCA has a worldwide network of regional offices in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire; Dhaka, Bangladesh and Beijing, China.