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A Farmers' Representative after receiving the insurance check as part of the Climate Risk Financing Project in Sudan. Photo: UNDP
United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in collaboration with the Government of White Nile State and the Higher Council for Environment & Natural Resources (HCENR) celebrated on 31st of July the handing over of the first installment of farmers' risk insurance payouts as part of Climate Risk Financing Project supported by Least Development Countries Fund (LDCF).
The celebration was attended by His Excellency Dr. Hassan Abdul-Gadir Hilal, Minister of Environment, Natural Resources and Urban Development, His Excellency Abul-Gasim Al-Amin Baraka, Governor of While Nile State, project stakeholders and community representatives of different While Nile localities.
“We extremely value UNDP’s role in responding to the adverse effects of climate change and its impact on both farmers and grazers. In order to combat climate change we need to join hands and today’s event shows us clearly how partnerships work best in the fight against climate change.” Stated H.E. Dr. Hassan Abdul-Gadir Hilal, Minister of Environment, Natural Resources and Urban Development.
White Nile State Governor Mr. Abul-Gasim Al-Amin Baraka commended UNDP’s role in supporting climate change projects in the state by saying “We are fully prepared to continue our joint coordination with UNDP in order to improve Sudanese people’s lives. I wish to thank UNDP and its partners for their efforts and hope that we sustain this effective partnership for the benefit White Nile State.”
Community Administration Leader Mr. El-Osaily Abdullah, said “Here in White Nile, we are facing complex challenges with regards to the environment; intermittent rainfall affecting grazing and other agricultural schemes, unemployment, conflict due to limited resources, displacement of large number of IDPs from the southern border, excessive cutting of trees and pollution etc….” We look forward for more economic revival in the White Nile in order to build the resilience of our people.”
The Climate Risk Finance for Sustainable and Climate Resilient Rain-fed Farming and pastoral systems project aims to create an enabling environment for climate risk management of smallholder farmers and pastoralists in rain-fed areas.
From the right: Mr. Min Htut of UNDP, H.E. Governor Abulgasim Baraka of White Nile, H.E. Hassan Hilal, Sudan's Minister of Environment, Rural Development, and Physical Planning, Ms. Hanan Mutwakil of UNDP during the ceremony in White Nile, Sudan. Photo: UNDP
With substantial support from the Least Developed Countries Fund (LDCF) the project supports the development of a range of financial mechanisms in six climate affected agro-ecological regions of Sudan. This project involves the development of an effective climate observation infrastructure to enable climate change resilient decision-making in local communities.
UNDP Sudan Country Director Mr. Selva Ramachandran affirmed that “ This project is unique in nature as it equally targets farmers and pastoralists and hence brings a lot of peace dividends , promoting thus the main national productive sectors in Sudan. The project further invests in linking Weather Index Insurance to Microfinance, as one of the innovative financial mechanisms to incentivize investments in climate change adaptation and risk reduction measures.”
Sudan is one of the few countries in Africa implementing this type of projects. The success of this project in achieving its outputs, will avail the opportunity to engage both the public and private insurance sectors to serve as important catalysts in supporting sustainable development in Sudan.