Applications are now open for the African Adaptation Initiative (AAI) programme, initiated by the African Union, and funded by the Green Climate Fund (GCF), to establish more resilient agriculture in Africa.

The vast majority of African citizens depends on subsistence agriculture, which is significantly impacted by fragile economies, cyclically by the war in Ukraine, and more structurally by climate change. Agricultural activity and associated productivity have declined in Africa in recent decades, largely due to droughts and other climatic hazards that have hit countries.

This call for proposals aims to identify a list of 20 projects, then to select 10 pilot projects with a high impact on strengthening the resilience of agricultural, livestock and fisheries activities on the one hand, and low-carbon energy production for sustainable agriculture on the other, in each of the 23 countries involved. The challenge is to aggregate an inclusive dynamic with all the actors of the agricultural sector and renewable energies for agriculture.

Programme Benefits

• The winners of this call for projects, as part of phase 2 of this program, will receive free technical assistance to mobilize private financing under bankable projects, or public funding from bilateral and multilateral climate finance institutions.

Nature of Projects and Expectations of Project Leaders

• Projects should be in line with the country’s National Determined Contribution (NDC), the national adaptation strategy, and the national adaptation plan, as well as the results of risk, impact, solution and policy modelling for resilient and low-carbon agriculture.
• The production of agricultural products from the fishing and livestock industries as well as the production of low carbon energy for agriculture will constitute the scope of this call for proposal.
• The projects more particularly targeted by this call for proposal will meet three main obligations:
  • Size: Medium and large (minimum expenditure: $1 million);
  • Maturity: High (implemented within a maximum period of 6 months based on a socio-economic and legal feasibility study, a business plan, and a robust level of operational readiness);
  • Duration: The pilot phase of impact assessment of the results should not exceed 3 years.
• They may be carried out independently by: public institutions, private organizations (companies, business groups, consortium), an NGO or members of civil society.

Beneficiaries

• The beneficiaries are African businesses and citizens, local communities, especially populations highly dependent on agriculture and vulnerable agricultural systems.

Project Selection Criteria

All projects that have passed the eligibility criteria may be submitted to the selection criteria grid. These criteria are as follows:

• Innovative character: The project must be innovative, proposing creative and original solutions for agricultural challenges;
• Local anchoring: The project must demonstrate its development in coordination and with the support of communities and local partners;
• Economic and financial robustness: The financial situation of the project leader will be evaluated according to the scope of the proposed work, in order to ensure consistency between the available resources and the objectives of the project;
• Replicability: The replicability of the project within a sector or ecosystem will be taken into account;
• Cost-effectiveness: The project must demonstrate value for money, aiming to obtain the best value for the investments made.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible, applications for the call for proposals must meet the following obligations:

• Administrative completeness: The file must be complete, including all the required annexes;
• Expenditure threshold and maturity: The project must meet the constraints indicated in the ” Nature of projects and expected from project leaders” section, including the amount of eligible expenses and the expected level of maturity;
• Non-exclusion criteria: The project must meet the national non-exclusion criteria (fiscal, social and administrative compliance);
• Economic and social impact for the national territory: The project must generate economic benefits and contribute to objectives such as food sovereignty, job creation and training (increase and maintenance of skills, training subsidies, etc.), but also investments to promote technological achievements (patent, intellectual property, etc.), the development of a sector or the anticipation of economic or societal changes;
• Environmental impact: The project must demonstrate a positive impact on the resilience of the agricultural sector, on the production and use of low-carbon energy in the agricultural sector. Performance indicators and a robust methodology should make it possible to quantify the expected impacts:
  • Climate change mitigation;
  • Adaptation to climate change;
  • Reduction of the quantities of fossil or synthetic inputs, or their impacts;
  • Sustainable use and protection of water and marine resources;
  • Transition to a circular economy;
  • Prevention and reduction of pollution;
  • Protection and restoration of biodiversity and ecosystems;
  • Reduction of carbon impact.

For more information, visit The Government Of the Kingdom Of Eswatini.