16 November 2009
The 2009 Climate Adaptation Grant Competition under the Development Marketplace (DM) funded by the World Bank and its partners, Global Environment Facility (GEF), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs has chosen 26 innovative ideas from countries around the world to save the planet from the effects of climate change. Out of the 1700 proposals, 100 ideas from 47 countries were shortlisted and presented at the Marketplace held recently in Washington DC. The ideas selected will receive seed funding of up to US $200,000 in addition to technical assistance from the World Bank. There were three sub-themes covered in the competition: ‘Resilience of Indigenous Peoples Communities to Climate Risks,’ ‘Climate Risk Management with Multiple Benefits’ and ‘Climate Adaptation and Disaster Risk Management.’ An understanding of some of these ideas can help us design new practices, enable replication and also introduce solutions to existing problems. A detailed list of the selected winners and their ideas is available at this link.
Under the first sub-theme, the Sarstoon Temash Institute for Indigenous Management in Belize is receiving the grant to set up a community-based enterprise to manage forest resources in a sustainable manner. Ixacavaa in Costa Rica will use the grant “to rescue ancestral knowledge and combine it with new technologies to ensure that local production systems and resource management is climate-resilient” amongst the Cabécar communities living in the disaster-prone areas. In Nicaragua, MASAGNI’s innovative idea is to offer nutritious food to 2500 children by cultivating trees that grow the nutritious Maya Nut. CSIPN’s idea is to increase the involvement of indigenous communities in Siberia to participate in developing a climate adaptation strategy.
Under the second sub-theme, the Bolivian project selected by DM will reduce the risk of the burning of the forests by farmers to expand farmland; dates will be coordinated to offer favorable climate conditions. To prevent crop failures and reducing the problem of food security, the Ethiopian-based Biodiversity International will provide access to seeds for locally-adapted varieties of crops to 200 vulnerable women farmers. In India, the Greenfield Hydronic Systems, Inc will convert small plots of wasteland into hydroponic greenhouses, using solar and wind-powered technologies to produce green fodder round the year for raising milk yields, calf birthweights and incomes.
Within the third sub-theme, the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan in partnership with the Catholic University of Santiago de Guayaquil will work to build 500 elevated, flood-resistant bamboo houses in Ecuador. In Philippines, the Philippines Business for Social Progress will be using mobile phone technology to provide announcements and information-on-demand to raise awareness of disaster risks in the region.
