The Adaptation Fund Board approved three projects targeting resilience in water management and food security from Eritrea, Solomon Islands and Ecuador, as well as a project concept from Uruguay.
18 March 2011: The Adaptation Fund Board has approved funding for projects in Eritrea, Ecuador and the Solomon Islands totaling US$19.5 million. The decisions were taken during the Board’s 13th meeting, in Bonn, Germany, on 17-18 March 2011. The Board also approved a project concept from Uruguay that uses the Adaptation Fund’s direct access modality for countries to access financing directly.
The Eritrean project will support the development of sub-surface and micro-dams to increase resilience of rural communities to climate change. This physical infrastructure will be complemented by awareness raising programmes to improve agricultural practices. The project in the Solomon Islands will assist in informed decision making on climate-related pressures on food production. In Ecuador, the Adaptation Fund Project will target climate-induced vulnerability and food insecurity in the vulnerable cantons of Pichincha Province. The projects in Eritrea and Solomon Islands are funded by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), while the Ecuadorian project is funded by the World Food Programme (WFP).
The total available resources of the Fund is currently US$168.5 million. This figure is expected to increase to US$334 million by the end of 2012. At the meeting, the Board decided to cap the maximum amount of funding per country at US$10 million. At the meeting, Ana Fornells de Frutos (Spain) took over as the new Chair of the Board, replacing Farrukh Khan (Pakistan).
The Adaptation Fund Board meeting was held following closed meetings of the Project and Programme Review Committee and the Ethics and Finance Committee on 16 March 2011. [Webcast of Adaptation Fund Board Meeting] [Adaptation Fund Press Release]