_{By Eva Msella}

In September 2020, over 60 stakeholders representing the government, development partners, Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and private sector met in Morogoro, Tanzania to launch the design phase of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) - Enhancing Adaptive Capacity and Climate Resilience of Vulnerable Smallholder Farming Communities and Agro-pastoral Systems in Semi-Arid Areas of Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar - (ECCRA) Project.  

The launch follows the formal approval from the GCF secretariat to advance the concept note of the 5-year project into a full proposal. 

Speaking during the launch, the Director of Policy and Planning in the Ministry of Agriculture, Mr. Obadia Nyagiro, on behalf of the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary acknowledged the challenges posed by climate change in the agriculture and livestock sectors and called on the participants to identify concrete adaptation activities that can significantly reduce vulnerability and enhance climate resilience. 

The overall objective of ECCRA project is to enhance the adaptive capacity and climate resilience of the vulnerable smallholder farming communities in agro-pastoral farming districts of Ikungi (Singida) and Simanjiro (Manyara) in Tanzania Mainland and Mcheweni (Pemba Kaskazini) in Zanzibar. The ECCRA Project has four components:

• Climate resilient landscapes
• Sustainable agricultural value chains
• Climate infrastructure
• Effective coordination and interagency collaboration in climate response

The  project is anchored at the Vice President’s Office with the Ministry of Agriculture (Tanzania Mainland) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources, Livestock and Fisheries (Zanzibar) providing technical leadership and IUCN Tanzania coordinating the overall activities as the national accredited entity. The design phase of the ECCRA Project is financially supported by the Enabel Tanzania, UN Women and the Swedish Embassy in Tanzania. One-World, of South Africa, in collaboration with local consortium partners will provide technical support in developing the GCF project proposal. 

For more information contact: doyi.mazenzele@iucn.org