Project profile — Promoting Climate Smart Agriculture and Agricultural Biodiversity in Upper and Lower Egypt

• Egypt (100.00%)

• Other Social Infrastructure And Services: Employment policy and administrative management (16020) (5.00%)
• Agricultural development:
Agricultural development (31120) (10.00%)
Agricultural education/training (31181) (5.00%)
• Environmental policy and administrative management:
Environmental policy and administrative management (41010) (5.00%)
Environmental education/training (41081) (35.00%)
Environmental research (41082) (10.00%)
• Other Multisector: Rural development (43042) (20.00%)
• Food security policy and administrative management:
Food security policy and administrative management (43071) (5.00%)
Food safety and quality (43073) (5.00%)

• Gender equality (significant objective)
• Environmental sustainability (cross-cutting) (principal objective)
• Participatory development and good governance (not targeted)
• Trade development (not targeted)
• Biodiversity (significant objective)
• Climate change mitigation (significant objective)
• Climate Change Adaptation (principal objective)
• Urban issues (not targeted)
• Desertification (not targeted)
• Children's issues (not targeted)
• Youth Issues (not targeted)
• Disaster Risk Reduction(DRR) (not targeted)
• Indigenous Issues (not targeted)
• Disability (not targeted)
• Nutrition (not targeted)
• ICT as a tool for development (not targeted)

This project seeks to promote gender equality and the economic empowerment of rural women and men by increasing the adaptive capacities of poor and vulnerable rural populations to climate change, including landless, unemployed, under or seasonally employed individuals, in the Aswan, Beheira and Kafr El Sheikh Governorates of Egypt. The project seeks to develop and implement nature-based and climate-resilient agricultural practices that promote the sustainable use of natural resources, increase agricultural productivity, and improve livelihoods and food security. Project activities include: (1) providing need-based environment and agriculture training to smallholder famers and stakeholders; (2) providing micro- and small- entrepreneurs with technical and financial services; and (3) strengthening the connectivity of agricultural value chain; and 4) advocating for smallholder food production at the municipal, governorate and national level.

The expected outcomes of this project include: (1) enhanced adoption of gender-responsive climate-smart agriculture and food system solutions for nature-positive climate change adaptation by smallholder farming communities with food security and livelihood co-benefits; and (2) enhanced adoption of gender-responsive nature-based solutions for enhancing and protecting biodiversity by smallholder farming communities with climate change adaptation and mitigation co-benefits. This project seeks to benefit over 8,000 smallholder farmers and 144 locally-based organizations, including government ministries, academic institutions and local organizations.

Results achieved as of March 2024 include: (1) conducted a comprehensive study to establish the socio-economic and biophysical baseline, including an evaluation of important crop’s carbon footprint and direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions; (2) selected 36 villages for project interventions in Aswan, Beheira, and Kafr El Sheikh governorates (respectively 12 villages); (3) established about 72 Farmer Field across the 3 governorates and developed project curricula; (4) conducted a gender-based and value chain analysis detailing smallholder farmer’s entrepreneurship and socio-economic contexts; (5) trained 1998 beneficiaries in climate smart agriculture (CSA), nature-based solutions and on-farm biodiversity; (6) conducted a workshop with national and international partners to determine climate change risks, issues and strategies; (7) trained 141 facilitators (73 women and 68 men) on managing CSA and agrobiodiversity, the local varieties of date palm and corresponding management practices; and (8) documented and tailored interventions based on the specific climate change-related challenges encountered by small-holder farmers.

• Proactive disclosure