The Green Climate Fund (GCF) has developed a global strategy to accelerate climate action in developing countries through its “50by30” vision, aiming to manage USD 50 billion by 2030. The Fund’s Readiness Programme helps countries translate their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), and Long-term Climate Strategies (LTS) into actionable climate investments. GCF also seeks to mobilize private sector finance, improve access to funding for vulnerable communities, and immediately address adaptation and resilience needs by expanding climate information and early warning systems.
GCF supports the Adaptation and Resilience Agriculture Fund (ARAF) by providing catalytic investments and technical assistance. In 2018, GCF made a USD 23 million anchor investment in ARAF I, helping de-risk the fund through first-loss capital. This investment attracted strong interest from other investors, exceeding the original USD 50 million target by USD 8 million. Additionally, GCF contributed USD 3 million in grant funding to a USD 6 million technical assistance facility to help investees build climate resilience, including steering crop choices, promoting adaptation tools, and diversifying income streams. ARAF I has directly impacted 2.2 million smallholder farmers and indirectly benefited 8.8 million people, approximately half of whom live below the poverty line.
Building on ARAF I’s success, GCF is anchoring the new successor fund with a USD 30 million equity investment towards a USD 120 million target. The Fund is also providing USD 4 million in grant funding for a USD 12 million technical assistance facility to support investees and smallholder farmers. This partnership expands GCF’s impact across East, West, and North Africa, aiming to help smallholder farmers adapt to climate change, strengthen sustainable livelihoods, and ultimately improve the lives of 20 million people.
The impacts of ARAF-supported projects are tracked through annual performance reports that assess progress against GCF investment criteria, project logic frameworks, environmental and social safeguards, gender considerations, and Indigenous peoples’ engagement. Impact is measured across three levels: overall lives affected, farmer well-being, and climate resilience. Reports capture direct and indirect beneficiaries disaggregated by gender, as well as outcomes such as increased generation and use of climate information, enhanced adaptive capacity, reduced exposure to climate risks, improved awareness of threats, and strengthened livelihoods, health, food, and water security.
Through these initiatives, GCF leverages both financial resources and technical support to scale climate adaptation in agriculture, demonstrating how strategic investment and capacity-building can create measurable, long-term resilience for vulnerable communities across Africa.
