Government of Canada announces Climate Partnership Initiative

Thursday, February 17, 2022
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...we have seen how nature-based solutions improve access to nutritious food, especially for small-scale farmers where women make up nearly half of these food producers.

Paul Hagerman, Director of Public Policy

Canadian Foodgrains Bank welcomes the announcement today of $315 million in funding for climate adaptation by the Honourable Harjit S. Sajjan, Minister of International Development and Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada. The funding is part of the government’s prior commitment to provide $5.3 billion in climate finance.

“We recognize the particular challenges faced by developing countries, especially those in sub-Saharan Africa, in adapting to the increasing threats of climate change. That is why we created the Partnering for Climate funding initiative—to support engagement with communities most at risk from climate change and to build resilience,” says Sajjan, who made the announcement as part of a panel discussion that provided perspectives on gender-sensitive nature-based solutions as a key component of climate resiliency.

Although the government has not yet revealed which organizations will be receiving this funding, Canadian Foodgrains Bank director of public policy Paul Hagerman says: “For the past three years, Foodgrains Bank staff and supporters have encouraged the government to increase investment in climate adaptation, so we welcome this response. Adaptation is a key component of increasing food security for families in low-income countries.”

In addition to poverty, the devastating effects of climate change greatly diminishes food security for vulnerable communities, especially for small-scale food producers.

“Learning from the experiences of our locally-based partners in 33 countries, we have seen how nature-based solutions improve access to nutritious food, especially for small-scale farmers where women make up nearly half of these food producers.” says Hagerman.

Hagerman adds “The government’s desire to focus on locally-led solutions is especially welcome as local organizations are best-placed to discover and implement lasting solutions for their communities.”

This video shows the story of how nature-based climate solutions have changed one woman’s life. It also resulted in our supporters asking the Canadian government to commit more funding to small-scale farmers dealing with the impacts of a changing climate. The announcement of $315M for climate adaptation is a result of those efforts. 

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