Green Climate Finance Facility for Fostering Climate-Smart Agriculture in Senegal

Senegal has a major agricultural sector that contributes to employment and food security, but the industry is highly exposed to the negative effects of climate change.  Increasing climate threats such as droughts, heat waves, and floods pose risks to crop yields, livestock, and water resources, jeopardising food security and economic stability. A resilient and low-emission agriculture sector can significantly contribute to economic growth and food security. Mainstreaming Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) practices can reduce vulnerability to climate risks. However, farmers in Senegal face barriers to adopting CSA practices. Agriculture receives less than three per cent of total bank credit in Senegal, leaving farmers lacking the necessary support to implement such practices effectively. This project aims to bolster CSA investments across the agriculture value chain in Senegal by improving access to credit and enabling traditional financial and microfinance institutions to build a credible track record in funding them. Widespread CSA adoption is expected to enhance farm productivity, strengthen resilience against climate risks, and reduce GHG emissions from deforestation and unsustainable practices. The project aims to achieve this by establishing a dedicated CSA lending facility (Green Climate Finance Facility or the GCFF), providing capacity building and technical assistance, promoting an enabling environment for CSA practice adoption, and sharing knowledge among key stakeholders and beneficiaries, facilitating learning through the lessons learned and best practices. GCF's Project Preparation Facility (PPF) support was deployed to help develop the project.