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Green Climate Fund will allocate $250 million for sustainable water supply - Uzbekistan among participants
The program will cover nine countries, including Uzbekistan, that rely on glacier-fed rivers for agriculture, water supply and energy.
The Green Climate Fund (GCF) has approved $250 million for the Glacier to Farm program, a flagship adaptation program implemented by the Asian Development Bank to build resilient water and agricultural systems for vulnerable communities in the glacier-dependent regions of Central Asia, the South Caucasus and Pakistan.
GCF funding will be provided primarily in the form of grants and invested, along with $3.25 billion allocated by ADB, over the next decade in a number of projects identified by countries participating in the program. These projects will help improve agricultural productivity, despite the fact that accelerated melting of glaciers leads to an increase in the frequency of droughts and floods.
The Glaciers to Farms project covers nine developing ADB member countries: Uzbekistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan, which rely on snow- and glacier-fed rivers for agriculture, water supply, and power generation.
“Accelerated melting of glaciers threatens these ecosystem services and economic status, presenting a serious challenge for countries where one in four jobs is in agriculture,” the experts noted.
The program will focus on four glacier-fed river basins: Naryn and Pyanj in Central Asia, Kura in the South Caucasus and Swat in Pakistan, covering approximately 27 million hectares.
It is noted that about 13 million people, including farmers and vulnerable populations in vulnerable mountain regions, will directly benefit from this program. It will contribute to climate and glacier assessments that will inform national development plans and investment programs. The program will also strengthen monitoring and early warning systems to help communities cope with natural disasters such as glacial lake outbursts and prolonged droughts.
The program will also support adaptive social protection programs and health services for vulnerable communities affected by water shortages and extreme heat stress, and strengthen the capacity of local banks to support agricultural businesses, especially those led by women.
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