Deadline: 15 November 2025
The Community Resilience Facility (CRF) presents a significant opportunity for community groups and SACCOs engaged in savings and lending to enhance both livelihoods and environmental sustainability.
This funding is designed to support onward lending to members, enabling them to implement sustainable land management and restoration activities. By facilitating annual lending cycles, the CRF helps communities generate financial returns while promoting long-term ecological resilience.
The CRF is envisioned as a long-term, community-owned asset that will support restoration plans well beyond the initial project period. Its operational start date is linked to the signing of the sub-grant conservation agreement, and the facility’s milestones are intended to be achievable within the TWENDE project timeline, concluding in August 2027. After this period, oversight of the fund will fully transition to local landscape committees or the established SACCOs, ensuring sustainability and local ownership.
Grants under the CRF carry specific funding limits, with a minimum of KES 200,000 and a maximum of KES 1,000,000. While applicants are not required to provide matching funds, groups must articulate a clear plan for long-term fund growth. This growth depends on reinvesting both member savings and any surplus service charges back into the revolving fund, creating a self-sustaining financial cycle.
Eligibility for the CRF targets community groups and sub-projects with proven experience in savings and lending facilities, as well as a capacity to deliver meaningful climate and community impact. Proposals are evaluated on technical and economic viability, alignment with Ecosystem Based Adaptation principles, and adherence to environmental and social safeguards. Gender mainstreaming and youth engagement are integral, with equitable participation in training, decision-making, and fund allocation.
Final beneficiaries are community members who engage in restoration enterprises or climate-smart activities. Eligible participants must have legal capacity to enter contracts independently, practical experience in restoration or climate-smart initiatives, and demonstrated financial management skills. They must ensure community participation in project planning, implementation, and monitoring, and have a strong understanding of landscape resilience, food security, and Ecosystem Based Adaptation principles. Sound accounting practices and compliance with reporting requirements are also essential for successful participation.
Overall, the CRF provides a strategic pathway for community groups to access financial support that strengthens both livelihoods and environmental stewardship. By combining capacity building, targeted funding, and sustainable lending mechanisms, this initiative empowers communities to lead restoration and climate-smart projects that generate lasting impact.
For more information, visit IUCN.
