ADF approves US$14M grant to scale up climate-resilient food systems in the Sahel
With the new financing, 60 climate-smart villages are set to be established across 30 municipalities, providing demonstration hubs where farmers can access improved seeds.
CÔTE D’IVOIRE – The Board of Directors of the African Development Fund has approved a US$14.64 million grant to support the second phase of the Programme to Strengthen Resilience to Food and Nutritional Insecurity in the Sahel (P2-P2RS).
The announcement was made on November 21, 2025, in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire, reflecting the African Development Bank Group’s continued commitment to climate-resilient food systems across some of the continent’s most vulnerable regions.
The financing comes through the Climate Action Window, the Fund’s climate-focused facility designed to channel concessional resources where climate shocks are rising fastest.
For the Sahel, where drought cycles, erratic rainfall, land degradation and temperature extremes frequently undermine food production, the grant seeks to reinforce adaptation measures at community level while easing long-term pressures on food security.
A core component of the project is the expansion of the “climate-smart villages” model.
Under P2-P2RS, this approach connects hydro-agricultural infrastructure with on-farm climate-resilient practices and tailored advisory services.
With the new financing, 60 climate-smart villages are set to be established across 30 municipalities, providing demonstration hubs where farmers can access improved seeds, water-efficient production methods and real-time climate information.
The funding will support the dissemination of improved, high-productivity and climate-resilient seed varieties; update the Regional Catalogue of Species and Varieties; and create a B2B networking portal to link seed companies, researchers and distributors.
National agricultural research systems and seed companies will receive support to expand vegetable seed multiplication for use in climate-smart villages.
Empowering women and youth, who hold critical roles in smallholder production and local markets, remains a priority within these interventions.
The grant also targets one of the Sahel’s persistent weaknesses, particularly fragmented and insufficient climate data.
The project will strengthen national observation networks and introduce an integrated digital platform for collecting, managing and disseminating real-time climate data and services.
A regional system for tracking loss and damage will also be developed, together with standardized reporting protocols across participating countries. This is expected to enhance early-warning capabilities, inform risk-based planning and support coordinated disaster-response mechanisms.
By combining improved seed access, localized climate-smart practices and modern data systems, the initiative aims to reduce communities’ exposure to climate risks while building the foundations for more stable production systems.
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