Projects financed by IFAD in the region help to build resilience to inherent risks and weather, market and other shocks at the household, community and ecosystem levels. By diversifying livelihoods and promoting water and soil conservation,  many IFAD-supported projects help vulnerable farmers adapt to changing climatic conditions, including by restoring fragile ecosystems to health and greater productivity. Often these activities also contribute to carbon sequestration, which may provide future revenue streams through carbon markets that could benefit poor rural communities.

The ‘re-greening’ activities carried out by IFAD-supported projects in Burkina Faso, Mali and the Niger have shown that promoting local knowledge and women’s empowerment is critical to a project’s success and its potential for being scaled up across the region. They also show that with a little support poor rural women and men can significantly strengthen the resilience of the ecosystems on which their livelihoods depend.

Examples of climate change activities in IFAD loans and grants

Choose loans Regenerating degraded land in Burkina Faso Increasing resilience of agropastoral areas in northern Mali Linking human and climate vulnerability in Mali's Inner Niger Delta Improving soil and water conservation technologies in Niger

Choose grants Forest management in Cameroon, DR Congo, Gabon and Nigeria Markets for carbon sequestration in Ghana Piloting rewards for environmental services mechanisms in Guinea Re-greening Burkina Faso, Mali, the Niger and Senegal Adaptation through agroforestry in Burkina Faso, Mali and the Niger