The Green Climate Fund (GCF) says it will disburse U.S.$100 million to partly finance the Tanzania Agriculture Climate Adaptation Technology Deployment Programme (TACATDP).
It is understood that the instrument of the financing will take the form of a U.S.$70 million loan, U.S.$20 million grant and ten million dollars guarantee.
TACATDP is expected to strengthen resilience of Tanzania’s agriculture sector by facilitating access to agriculture climate adaptation technologies.
‘This will be achieved by establishing a lending and de-risking facility that will make these technologies affordable to local farmers and agricultural enterprises, accompanied by technical assistance and support from government authorities’, a GCF statement read.
Agriculture is essential to Tanzania’s economy and the livelihoods of its people, accounting for 27 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) and 67 percent of jobs.
According to the GCF, 80 to 90 percent of agricultural land is held by smallholder farmers and 98 percent of economically active rural Tanzanian women are engaged in farming.
However, the agriculture sector is particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change, including extreme weather events such as droughts.
Data from the International Trade Administration (ITA) shows that the agro-ecosystem is characterised by dry land and extreme rainfall variability, which limits productivity and contributes to land degradation.
A report by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), titled, Review of Climate Change Mitigation in Agriculture in Tanzania, revealed that the agricultural sector is the most prone to climate change with a reported deforestation rate of 400,000 hectares per year.
The report also noted that the country still practices a less mechanised form of agriculture.
The TACATDP programme is estimated to impact over six million Tanzanians and affect the livelihood of communities and the health, food and water security sectors.
Source: GCF
Photo source: Pia Andrews
