The Climate-Smart Agriculture Fund for Latin America and the Caribbean (CSAF) [NDF C86]
Cocoa beans harvested by the Naso indigenous group in Bocas del Toro Province
The overall objective of the Fund is to catalyze private sector investment in sustainable agriculture, forestry, and rangeland systems in order to maintain and improve the flow of agro-ecosystem services from productive landscapes in the face of climate change and increasing resource scarcity.
REGION
Latin America
PROJECT REFERENCE
NDF C86
DURATION
2016-2020
NDF FINANCING
EUR 5 million
FINANCING TYPE
Grant
IMPLEMENTING AGENCY
Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)
NDF CONTACT
Isabel Leroux (isabel.leroux@ndf.int)
Objectives
The Climate-smart Agriculture Fund for Latin America and the Caribbean (CSAF or "the Fund") is a concessional finance facility aimed at catalyzing private sector investment in sustainable agriculture, forestry and rangeland development across the LAC region. It is an initiative of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and will be administered by the IDB’s Structured and Corporate Finance Department (SCF).
Unsustainable land use from deforestation, habitat conversion and poor agriculture practices accounts for nearly half of all LAC greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and severely limits resilience to extreme climate events. Climate-smart methods and technologies offer solutions for mitigation and adaptation to climate change while achieving more sustainable productivity.
However, climate-smart business models routinely face critical barriers to finance, notably, extended payback period requirements and misinformation about risks and returns. CSAF is intended to address these barriers by channeling concessional finance and technical assistance to select private sector led climate-smart projects.
The direct clients of the Fund will he small, medium and large scale agribusinesses developing innovative climate smart projects in the region. Poverty reduction will be a direct outcome of support to these projects, with the number one drivers for poverty reduction at sub-project level being job creation and sustainabie income generation for the rural poor and smallholder farmers in the value chain.
Outcomes
Expected outcomes include: increased investment in climate smart agriculture in the region; increased climate resilience and reduced emissions from the land use and agriculture sectors; and improved livelihoods and income opportunities for the rural poor in the region.
Financing
The total fund size including technical assistance funds is approximately USD 16.5 million. NDF is providing EUR 5 million or approximateiy USD 5.6 million. IDB is providing USD 850,000 in addition to staff time and resources for implementation. The Giobal Environment Fund is providing USD 5 million and USAID is providing USD 5 million.
NDF Contact
Isabel Leroux, Program Manager (isabel.leroux@ndf.int)
