Climate Regranting for Local and Community-driven Projects: Senegal River Delta, Senegal
“Regranting to local communities with lived experiences of what works and what does not, enhances empowerment and strengthens local capacities in ecosystem management and Nature based Solutions (NbS)”
Delta communities are doing the work of adaptation despite little access to funding “because they must”. Indigenous communities receive less than 1% of all climate funding. The Regranting model is an example of an innovative finance mechanism that can facilitate quicker action on the ground with wider reach to fast-track adaptation and resilience benefits.
The African Climate Foundation (ACF) is the first climate regranting organisation in Africa. Rather than calling for project proposals, it seeks to simplify the process of financing local and community-driven projects. Since its inception in 2020, the ACF has provided over 400 grants to African organisations straddling the climate and development nexus. These grants have gone to local communities, research and academic institutions, African governments, and agencies that ordinarily would have a difficult time accessing grants due to various reasons, such as weak proposal writing skills, complex and time-consuming funding application processes of bilateral and multilateral funding institutions. Local communities that receive these grants are empowered to implement activities such as awareness raising on NbS, pilot demonstrations, collect community-based data, share knowledge, experiences, harness and raise the voices of local communities to policymakers.
17 villages mobilized against land salinization in Loul Sessène, Senegal. 15 ha were reforested in 24 hours! Image source: IPAR.
What would a UN Convention on River Deltas do?
A community-driven UN Convention on River Deltas can establish a regranting mechanism that simplifies the processes of communities accessing funds to implement NbS. This financing model is not just relevant - it is essential. It is only when communities are provided with resources to hold dialogues, generate their own solutions, and implement them that real change will happen in their ecosystems, and positive outcomes that enhance their resilience to climate shocks and benefit their livelihoods will be realised.
Contributed by: Irene Karani, African Climate FoundationContributed by: Abdul Waheed, Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Germany
