Green Climate Fund Approves $250 Million for Glacier to Farm Program in Central Asia and Pakistan

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) has approved $250 million for Glaciers to Farms, a flagship adaptation program led by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to build resilient water and agriculture systems for vulnerable communities in glacier-dependent regions of Central Asia, the South Caucasus, and Pakistan. The program will focus on four glacier-fed river basins, covering approximately 27 million hectares, and will benefit around 13 million people, including farmers and vulnerable populations in fragile mountain regions. By investing in efficient irrigation, water storage, and watershed management, the projects will help improve agricultural productivity and mitigate the impacts of accelerated glacial melt. The program will also strengthen monitoring and early warning systems, support adaptive social protection schemes, and improve health services for vulnerable communities.

Key Takeaways:

• The Green Climate Fund (GCF) has approved $250 million for the Glaciers to Farms program, a flagship adaptation program led by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to build resilient water and agriculture systems in glacier-dependent regions of Central Asia, the South Caucasus, and Pakistan.
• The program will focus on four glacier-fed river basins, covering approximately 27 million hectares, and benefiting around 13 million people, including farmers and vulnerable populations in fragile mountain regions.
• The program aims to improve agricultural productivity and mitigate the impacts of accelerated glacial melt by investing in efficient irrigation, water storage, and watershed management.
• The program will also strengthen monitoring and early warning systems, support adaptive social protection schemes, and improve health services for vulnerable communities.
• The program will be implemented over the next decade, with the GCF providing mostly grants and investing alongside $3.25 billion from ADB.
• The program will cover nine ADB developing member countries, including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, which rely heavily on glacier and snow-fed rivers for agriculture, domestic water, and electricity generation.

Statistics:

• $250 million: The amount of GCF funding approved for the Glaciers to Farms program.
• $3.25 billion: The amount of funding from ADB for the program over the next decade.
• 27 million hectares: The area covered by the four glacier-fed river basins under the program.
• 13 million people: The number of people who will benefit directly from the program, including farmers and vulnerable populations in fragile mountain regions.
• 4: The number of glacier-fed river basins that the program will focus on.
• 2024: The year in which GCF-funded glacier risk assessments helped to form the scientific and technical basis for the program.

Sources:

• Green Climate Fund (GCF) 43rd Board Meeting (29 October).
• Asian Development Bank (ADB) press release (no date mentioned).