The Green Climate Fund has transferred the first tranche of climate funds to improve ecosystems-based adaptation in the Gambia.

The first tranche of USD 6 million marks the start of GCF’s disbursements in a joint project with UN Environment, a GCF Accredited Entity.

The USD 20.5 million project is set to increase the climate resilience of rural communities in the Gambia at scale and to facilitate the development of a sustainable natural resource based economy by using Ecosystem Based Adaptation approaches.

“UN Environment is pleased to see that the Gambia can now begin to use Ecosystem Based Adaptation – a cost effective and low risk approach, for building climate resilience of rural communities and facilitate the development of a sustainable natural resource based economy which can benefit over 11,000 people of which at least half will be women,” said Erik Solheim, Executive Director of UN Environment.

The Gambia is struggling to cope with widespread environmental degradation, which has severely reduced the fertility of its soil and lowered the agricultural productivity of a country that relies on agriculture for about 40 percent of its national exports and 26 percent of its GDP.

GCF Executive Director Howard Bamsey said it was encouraging to see the “project will help to enhance national resilience across a broad spectrum of society in the Gambia. The project will integrate Ecosystem Based Adaptation into planning at national, district and village levels.”

Farmers in the Gambia will also be able to receive a number of co-benefits, including improved soil fertility, biodiversity, water quality and reduced greenhouse gas emissions through carbon storage and sequestration.