By Faridat Salifu
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations has secured approval for eight new projects worth nearly $60 million from the Global Environment Facility to advance sustainable agriculture and environmental restoration across seven countries.
The initiatives are designed to improve agricultural landscape management, promote climate-friendly livestock production and restore forests, coastal zones and marine ecosystems.
FAO said the projects are expected to benefit more than one million people across four continents while mitigating an estimated 84.5 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.
The programmes will also improve the management of about 1.2 million hectares of productive land, strengthening climate resilience and food security.
According to FAO, the projects will leverage about $429 million in co-financing and support the restoration of 314,000 hectares of degraded landscapes.
The interventions will further enhance the management of 305,000 hectares of protected areas on land and at sea.
FAO Director-General QU Dongyu said the FAO–GEF partnership continues to drive integrated solutions that support better production, better nutrition, a better environment and a better life.
He said the collaboration promotes more efficient, inclusive, resilient and sustainable agrifood systems globally.
The newly approved projects will be implemented in Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bangladesh, Ukraine, India, Mexico and Senegal.
They cover integrated landscape management, forest and agroforestry restoration, sustainable livestock systems, biodiversity conservation and the development of low-emission, deforestation-free livestock policies.
FAO said the projects are expected to enhance livelihoods, strengthen climate resilience and support biodiversity protection in line with broader sustainable development goals.
Since 2006, the FAO–GEF partnership has approved more than $2 billion in grants and mobilised over $14 billion in co-financing for climate, biodiversity and environmental action through agriculture and food systems.
In addition to the latest approvals, GEF had earlier endorsed 14 FAO-led projects between June and December, committing $19.7 million in grants and about $75 million in co-financing.
Those projects focus on biodiversity protection beyond national jurisdictions, climate resilience and water security in Central Asia, land degradation neutrality and agrifood system transformation.
Separately, $6 million has been allocated under the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund to restore native species and rehabilitate coastal and marine ecosystems in the Cook Islands, Timor-Leste and Mauritius.
FAO said the combined portfolio of ongoing and newly approved projects will restore thousands of hectares of land, cut emissions and strengthen food security while improving livelihoods in participating countries.
