PROJECT BACKGROUND

Liberia’s smallholder fishers and farmers are experiencing increasing climate change-related risks to their livelihoods. Flooding of agricultural land after heavy rainfall events, especially in combination with high average temperatures and the occurrence of extreme heat spells, is a direct cause of post-harvest losses and the occurrence of crop pests and diseases. Marine heatwaves and coastal storm surges lead to a deterioration of fish stocks, coastal erosion and coastal flooding. These hazards are projected to increase in frequency, intensity and duration. The capacity of smallholder farmers and fishermen and associated micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSME’s) to adapt to these climate-related risks is low. Land, forest and coastal degradation, inadequate extension services, limited infrastructure and insufficient financial incentives and mechanisms have already held back smallholder agriculture and fishery sectors in terms of production, value chain development and sustaining livelihoods and food security. Additionally, options that help build adaptive capacity, such as alternative livelihoods in sustainable ecotourism, are still underexplored.

The project’s objective is ‘building climate resilience in natural-resource dependent rural communities of Liberia through systems-based, transformational adaptation in the agricultural, fisheries and ecotourism sectors.’ It will increase smallholder adaptive capacity by restoring natural resources, strengthening extension services, strengthening access to finance, and strengthening sustainable value chains. It will employ a combination of interventions that focus on the adoption of resilient and regenerative practices among farmers and fisherfolk to improve productivity while at the same time reducing environmental impacts,
i) linking local livelihoods to sustainable value chains, developing alternative livelihood strategies such as those linked to eco-tourism, and fostering market access through business skills training, and
ii) providing an enabling innovative finance environment that fosters private sector engagement, links actors along the value chain and scales the development of sustainable enterprises based along the value chain. The project is expected to bring 3640 ha of land and coastal areas under improved management for climate resilience, capacitate an overall of 81,800 people in the seven target counties to identify climate change impacts and appropriate adaptation responses, mobilize 500,000 (US$) investment from private sector sources and incubate or accelerate 30 MSMEs enterprises engaged in climate change adaptation and resilience action with technical assistance, financial matchmaking, and/or direct financing.

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