Catalyzing a Climate Risk Protection Shield for Zambian Smallholder Farmers (GCF-SAP067)

Countries
  • Zambia
Geographic location where the impacts of the investment may be experienced.
Financial Institutions
  • Green Climate Fund (GCF)
International, regional and national development finance institutions. Many of these banks have a public interest mission, such as poverty reduction.
Project Status
Approved
Stage of the project cycle. Stages vary by development bank and can include: pending, approval, implementation, and closed or completed.
Bank Risk Rating
C
Environmental and social categorization assessed by the development bank as a measure of the planned project’s environmental and social impacts. A higher risk rating may require more due diligence to limit or avoid harm to people and the environment. For example, "A" or "B" are risk categories where "A" represents the highest amount of risk. Results will include projects that specifically recorded a rating, all other projects are marked ‘U’ for "Undisclosed."
Voting Date
Mar 28, 2026
Date when project documentation and funding is reviewed by the Board for consideration and approval. Some development banks will state a "board date" or "decision date." When funding approval is obtained, the legal documents are accepted and signed, the implementation phase begins.
Borrower
Government of Zambia
A public entity (government or state-owned) provided with funds or financial support to manage and/or implement a project.
Sectors
  • Agriculture and Forestry
  • Climate and Environment
The service or industry focus of the investment. A project can have several sectors.
Investment Type(s)
Grant
The categories of the bank investment: loan, grant, guarantee, technical assistance, advisory services, equity and fund.
Investment Amount (USD)
$ 25.00 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Project Cost (USD)
$ 30.30 million
Value listed on project documents at time of disclosure. If necessary, this amount is converted to USD ($) on the date of disclosure. Please review updated project documents for more information.
Primary Source

Original disclosure @ GCF website

Updated in EWS Oct 28, 2026

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Project Description
If provided by the financial institution, the Early Warning System Team writes a short summary describing the purported development objective of the project and project components. Review the complete project documentation for a detailed description.

According to bank provided information, the project aims to build the climate resilience of 840,000 individuals in Zambian smallholder households by developing sustainable, market-based systems for critical adaptation services. Led by Zambia's Ministry of Finance and National Planning (MoFNP), it targets a market-wide transformation, shifting the country from fragmented, aid-dependent interventions toward self-sustaining adaptation systems. 

Zambia's smallholder farmers face severe climate challenges, including frequent droughts, irregular rainfall, and rising temperatures that threaten harvests and food security. Maize yields could fall by 22 per cent by 2050, yet high and unpredictable agricultural risk deters insurers, making coverage expensive or unavailable. Scalable insurance and seedling supply models remain undeveloped and fragmented, limiting private investment and smallholder resilience.

Structured around three components, the project seeks to establish a "Farmer First" agricultural insurance sector, build a robust market-driven supply chain for indigenous tree seedlings to support agroforestry adoption, and provide smallholder farmers with climate-smart inputs, training, and financing through the One Acre Fund Zambia platform. 

An estimated 140,000 farming households are expected to gain access to improved insurance products, while 65,000 households will receive agroforestry packages. The project directly supports Zambia's revised Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and 2023 National Adaptation Plan (NAP), which identify agriculture as a priority sector and emphasise building smallholder resilience against climate shocks.

Investment Description
Here you can find a list of individual development financial institutions that finance the project.

Contact Information
This section aims to support the local communities and local CSO to get to know which stakeholders are involved in a project with their roles and responsibilities. If available, there may be a complaint office for the respective bank which operates independently to receive and determine violations in policy and practice. Independent Accountability Mechanisms receive and respond to complaints. Most Independent Accountability Mechanisms offer two functions for addressing complaints: dispute resolution and compliance review.

 

GCF team

National Designated Authority

Ministry of Green Economy and Environment (Zambia)

ACCESS TO INFORMATION

Requests for project information may be submitted using the IDP Request for Information by email to: disclosure@gcfund.org.

You can also submit an information request using this online form: https://www.greenclimate.fund/about/disclosure/form.  Additionally, if information requested is denied, an appeal can be filed to the Information Appeals Panel: iap@gcfund.org.  You can learn more about the Information Appeals Panel at: https://www.greenclimate.fund/about/disclosure/appeals.

ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISM OF GREEN CLIMATE FUND 

The Independent Redress Mechanism (IRM) addresses complaints by people who believe they are negatively affected or may be affected by projects or programmes funded by the Green Climate Fund (GCF). The complainant can raise issues related to any of GCF’s policies and procedures, including those relating to social and environmental issues, indigenous peoples, gender, and information disclosure, among others. If you submit a complaint to the IRM, it may seek to address the issues raised by facilitating problem solving or conducting a compliance process. You can learn more about the Independent Redress Mechanism and how to file a complaint at https://irm.greenclimate.fund/.

You can access a video about the IRM (English) at: https://youtu.be/1LanbriVhfs.

A brochure about the IRM can be accessed in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Arabic, Mandarin, Mongolian, Vietnamese, Russian, Ukrainian, Korean, German, and Kiswahili at: https://irm.greenclimate.fund/.

How it works

How it works