*** If you have any questions or comments, please contact us at registry.bj@undp.org
 

Background and Objectives

In recent years, degradation and loss of land, forest and natural habitats—in a context increasingly marked by a changing climate—has begun to seriously undermine human development in Benin. Land degradation has impacted negatively on the productivity of ecosystems in Benin. It is estimated that about 2.2 million hectares of land, equal to 19% of the national territory, were degraded between 2000 and 2010. During this period, observed climate variability and change, such as changes in seasonal distribution and  precipitation patterns, more intense rains, higher temperatures and stronger wind storms, have increased and are beginning to have an increasingly significant impact on ecosystem services and agricultural outcomes.

The project will:

1. promote sustainable, climate resilient production systems in degraded lands and deforestation hotspots in Benin;
2. facilitate the development of green infrastructure, selected through integration of climate scenarios and resilience potential under current climatic stressors, to strengthen the Green Belt as a nature-based solution against desert advancement and support communities in climate change adaptation in the north of the country;
3. strengthen the protection and preservation of forest ecosystems located in large agricultural production basins;
4. identify and promote gender responsive, climate resilient value chains and increase productivity and competitiveness of the horticultural sectors, and;
5. facilitate the mobilization of innovative financing and the involvement of private sector for the scaling up and sustainability of climate resilient agriculture, climate risk informed sustainable land and forest management.

The project will address a range of barriers and challenges and will be carried out at national, communal, and local site levels where degraded lands have been targeted for improved, climate risk-informed land management practices to support the achievement of Benin’s LDN goals and to help meet national NDC objectives for climate change adaptation.