Deadline: 20-Oct-23
The GEF-SGP implemented by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Zambia is inviting eligible local communities, Community Based Organizations (CBOs) and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in largely vulnerable remote areas with women, the youth and persons with disabilities, to submit innovative and relevant concept papers.
The Great Green Wall (GGW) is an African initiative to stop and reverse trends in land degradation, desertification, climate change and loss of biodiversity, especially in the arid regions of Africa through a coherent and common set of interventions. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) GGW, is an initiative aimed at addressing land degradation, desertification, and climate change in the Southern African region. This Great Green Wall Innovation Programme is a partnership between the Global Environment Facility (GEF) Small Grants Programme (SGP) and the African Union Commission.
The initiative aims to support innovative community-led projects to contribute to the implementation of the SADC GGW strategy and the Operational Phase 7 (OP7) strategic framework, for the GEF-SGP. The GGW Innovation Programme aims to demonstrate and generate lessons and good practices on how related community led projects could actively promote participation of women, the youth and non-state actors (civil society organizations – CSOs) in the implementation of GGW Initiative strategy.
With increasing involvement in land and water management and as collectors of water and fodder, women and youth provide critical support to the health of farms and livestock in areas where soil is unproductive, rains are erratic/insufficient, and the men have migrated in search of work, leaving the women behind to earn additional incomes through agriculture and allied activities. While women are sometimes restricted in their ability to share their own knowledge of land management, engagement with women and youth organizations is essential to ensure that innovations and best practices developed through women-led initiatives, can be scaled up through partnerships and influence policy.
Priority Themes and Activities
- Priority themes and activities for the SLM and SFM Innovation Programme will include:
- Food security
- Empowering women for dietary diversification using improved agricultural techniques that conserve limited resources.
- Promote practices that improve nutrition to smallholder households, supporting their efforts to cultivate and consume locally grown, nutritious foods.
- Climate resilient agriculture and agroforestry
- Empowering women and youth in resource-efficient agricultural value chains
- Enhancing practices, choices, and concerns of women farmers in the areas of seed production, agro-biodiversity, sustainable agricultural practices, and natural resource management
- Diversifying production to include a variety of foods that enhance nutritional outcomes and increase resilience to climate shocks.
- Sustainable Land Management (SLM) & Sustainable Forest Management (SFM)
- Community forest management and restoration
- Agroecology-based food production and gathering
- Water management using user-friendly technology developed by youth to support farmers.
- Advocacy, Policy Influence
- Documentation of innovations, good practices and lessons learnt derived from the supported community-based, women and youths-led projects.
- Food security
Funding Information
- The grant amount for the budget will range from $5,000 to $50,000. The implementation capacity of the CBOs/CSO and the ideas being proposed will be considered when approving the grant amount.
Project Duration
- The duration of proposed project should not exceed 24 months.
Criteria
- The GEF-SGP invites eligible organizations to prepare a concept paper using the provided template. They highly recommend that proponent organizations, engage the communities in the development of the concept paper to ensure the proposed project idea is relevant, innovative, and inclusive. The concept idea should be aligned to the SGP OP7 Country Programme Strategy and the GGW strategy.
- Encouraging and building partnership among organizations and groups is an integral part of the GEF-SGP. Less experienced community organizations are encouraged to take part in SGP activities, assisted by an experienced local or national NGO, who will play a key role as mentors and partners. Only organization with 2 years’ experience from the date of registration will be considered.
- The effective involvement of women and youth in implementing the GGW Innovation Programme is critical. CSOs and CBOs interested in applying for this grant should focus on the principal of Leaving No One Behind, thus, local people and persons with disabilities should also be involved.
For more information, visit UNDP.