The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has secured $68 million in funding to address environmental challenges across 22 countries, officials have announced.
The financing, approved by the Global Environment Facility (GEF), targets biodiversity loss, groundwater management, climate change, land degradation, and pollution.
The projects are expected to generate an additional $273 million in co-financing.
“The approval of this batch of projects comes at the end of a year of environmental summits that highlighted the need for finance to unlock transformation of global agrifood systems,” said FAO Director-General, QU Dongyu.
The package includes $19 million for FAO’s Small Grants Programme, supporting local initiatives across 14 countries from Bosnia and Herzegovina to Venezuela.
The programme aims to restore 20,000 hectares of land and benefit 45,000 people.
Five biodiversity projects will receive funding through the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund, targeting protected areas management and ecosystem restoration.
The initiatives span multiple countries, including Laos, Papua New Guinea, and the Solomon Islands.
In East Africa, a $7.8 million project will focus on water security in the Mount Kilimanjaro region, aiming to conserve 40,000 hectares of cloud forest and benefit 100,000 people across Kenya and Tanzania.
“These projects will help change the way we produce our food, fuel, and fibre to address global environmental crises,” said Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, GEF CEO and Chairperson.
The funding marks a record year for the FAO-GEF partnership, which has supported 141 countries with $1.9 billion in environmental projects since 2006.
Additional initiatives include a $9.6 million project in Gambia to reduce agrochemical use and a $4 million sustainable tourism programme in Vanuatu.
The projects align with the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals and are designed to deliver global environmental benefits while responding to local priorities.
