Source: United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) |

Discarded fertilizing materials give rise to an innovative company in the Gambia

In the Gambia, over 80% of the SME sector is either at the start-up or survival stages

Through a grant from the JSF Programme, Momar Taal realized his dream of creating a processing facility that sources produce from local farmers and packages it for regional distribution. The company is called Tropingo Foods, and it collects the best agricultural produce from the Gambia’s rich, fertile lands and sells…

Source: United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) |

Small investments delivered at scale are transforming futures for the most vulnerable in Niger

Since 2014, LoCAL-Niger financed 64 adaptation investments, directly benefiting approximately 118,000 people in some of the world’s most vulnerable and conflict affected areas of the world

In Gaberi village, Falwel Commune, rural Niger, Aissa Amarou now feeds her family with nutritious meat and has covered her children’s school costs for an entire year thanks to her new goat herd. Ms Amarou is one of hundreds of thousands of Nigeriens taking part in a UN Capital Development…

Source: United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) |

Gambia: Bridge over dangerous waters builds resilience and improves access to healthcare

The construction project provided a valuable boost in incomes in a region beset by poverty as well as lasting resource that is bolstering the community’s resilience to climate change

In rural Gambia, young mother Sarata Ceesay, no longer has to wade through water where crocodiles like to gather to attend her ante-natal checks ups, thanks to the construction of a new climate-resilient culvert, or small bridge. The structure, which Mrs Ceesay helped to build through a Cash for Work…

Source: United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) |

US$ 9M+ approved by Green Climate Fund (GCF) for Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility (LoCAL) scale up in Benin

The expansion will take LoCAL results from a beneficiary base of 860,00 to a projected 2.7 million people

The Green Climate Fund has approved over US$ 9 million for scaling up the Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility in Benin for greater action on adaptation to the impacts of climate change by working with local governments and communities. The approval is a major advancement for the West African nation,…

Source: United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) |

Leveraging United Nations Capital Development Fund's (UNCDF) expertise to turn the tide on migration in The Gambia

Gambians have been leaving the country for opportunities abroad for generations, but as legal routes and access to visas has become more difficult, ‘the back way’ has flourished

A short-term work opportunity was all it took to turn Muhamed Ceesay’s life around. Unemployed and heading into middle age, Mr Ceesay would stay awake at night fretting over how to provide an income for his family. He came close to selling his father’s land and joining the untold thousands…

Source: United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) |

Climate Week New York City (NYC)/ United Nations General Assembly (UNGA): 21 Ministers call for simplified and consistent access to climate finance with Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility (LoCAL)

Some 34 countries across Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Pacific are designing or implementing their adaptation actions with the LoCAL Facility

Ministers and high-level representatives from Bhutan, The Gambia and Liberia today launched a 21-signature Ministerial Declaration in New York calling for “simplified” and “consistent” access to climate finance and the establishment of a consolidated funding modality for the UNCDF managed Local Climate Adaptive Living Facility, which they said would enable…

Source: United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) |

A green transformation that is a golden opportunity for women in The Gambia

Climate change is destroying livelihoods in The Gambia, where the majority of the country’s rural residents are engaged in rain-fed agriculture

Satou Secka, Awa Ndow and their female neighbours in the village of Kataba Omar, are taking the lead in a revolution. Amid the dusty dry lands of their water-starved rural community in The Gambia, there’s a 3,600-metre square patch of luscious green filled with tomatoes, okra, mint and more. The…

Source: United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) |

CookFund programme presentation at European Union cooperation meeting in Dar es Salaam

The event highlighted the valued partnership of the EU in mitigating climate change through accelerating the market rollout of clean cooking solutions by empowering Tanzanian companies and enterprises

The UNCDF Tanzania team was invited to showcase progress of the 17 million Euro EU funded CookFund programme at the EU delegation premises in Tanzania. The presentation highlighted the initial achievements of the programme including ongoing second call for applications and the approximately 15,000 households that have been reached across…

Source: United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) |

Programme Investment Committee visit enterprises and companies in Dar es Salaam

The CookFund governance structure includes the PIC whose responsibility is to offer final review and approval of investments and applications for the grant as well as annual programme work plans and budgets

Members of the Programme Investment Committee (PIC) looked in on the progress of companies and enterprises in Dar es Salaam that received grant funding under EU funded CookFund programme. The CookFund governance structure includes the PIC whose responsibility is to offer final review and approval of investments and applications for…

Source: United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) |

United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) Completes Handover of Development Initiative for Northern Uganda (DINU) Projects, Spurring Development in Northern Uganda

The Agago District Chairperson also endorsed the livestock market, constructed under DINU-LGEF, as part of a broader push by government to economically empower women in Northern Uganda

The United Nations Capital Development Fund (UNCDF) recently held handover ceremonies to officially transfer infrastructure projects to local leaders in Adjumani, Moyo, and Yumbe. These projects were implemented under UNCDF's 7-year, EU-funded Development Initiative for Northern Uganda (DINU) programme to drive recovery and growth in the post-conflict region. In Agago…