The Global Environment Facility (GEF) has green-lighted 48 projects and three programmes led by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) to promote sustainable agri-food system transformation towards ending hunger and protecting the environment.
The projects will benefit 4.2 million people in five regions globally, restore more than 474,000 hectares of land; improve cropping practices on more than 24 million hectares of land and improve marine habitats; manage more than 2 million hectares of land and marine protected areas; reduce 133 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions and eliminate 202 tons of toxic agricultural chemicals.
The programmes focus specifically on eight agricultural value chains and sectors: maize, rice, wheat, cocoa, palm oil, soybeans, livestock and aquaculture, and are expected to restore more than 870,000 hectares of cropland, forests, natural grasslands and degraded lands, and wetlands, reducing more than 174 million tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions and eliminating 220 tonnes of toxic pesticides. About 46 countries are partnering with FAO to access GEF funding under this work programme, including Vietnam.
Specifically, the Clean and Healthy Oceans Integrated Program will provide $100 million to 14 countries to reduce land-based ocean pollution in nine large marine ecosystems (LMEs). The goal is to address low-oxygen areas in the ocean – also known as “dead zones” – by limiting land-based sources of pollution from agriculture (fertilizer overuse, livestock pollution) and industrial and urban sources (untreated wastewater) through policy, regulatory and infrastructure investments combined with sustainable natural resource management and ecosystem-based solutions. Similarly, the Central Asia Land and Water Nexus Program will channel $26 million to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan to restore ecosystems in the Amu Darya and Syr Darya basins to enhance water security, enhance resilience and improve rural livelihoods.
According to FAO Deputy Director-General Maria Helena Semedo, this is the largest programme of work in FAO’s projects approved by the GEF Council. Working closely with partners and countries, these projects have the potential to improve the lives of millions of people through the transformation of agri-food systems, while also helping to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.
At a recent discussion on food security and factors causing hunger in many parts of the world held in New York, United States, UN Secretary-General António Guterres assessed that war and climate instability are among the main causes of increasing hunger. According to the UN, 13 out of 14 countries most at risk from climate change are facing humanitarian and food security crises.
Therefore, the support of GEF and FAO has partly become an important driving force for solving the problem of environmental degradation, following the landmark agreements on biodiversity. GEF is an environmental fund formed from contributions from countries around the world, mainly developed countries, with the purpose of supporting funding for projects that have economic benefits for the global environment of countries.
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