The Asian Development Bank (ADB) Green Climate Fund (GCF) has approved $250 million for Glaciers to Farms to build resilient water and agriculture systems for vulnerable communities in glacier-dependent regions of Central Asia, the South Caucasus, and Pakistan, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Wednesday.
By investing in efficient irrigation, water storage, and watershed management, the projects will help improve agricultural productivity even as accelerated glacial melt increases the frequency of droughts or floods.
“Rapid glacial retreat is one of the most complex development challenges faced by our region,” said ADB Director for Agriculture, Food, Nature, and Rural Development Yasmin Siddiqi. “We need practical, scalable, and science-based solutions to help communities adapt. With catalytic support from GCF, Glaciers to Farms will help move the region beyond fragmented projects and towards systemic, long-term resilience that protects lives and livelihoods now and for future generations.”
Glaciers to Farms covers nine ADB developing member countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan—which all rely on glacier and snow-fed rivers for agriculture, domestic water, and electricity generation.
Accelerated glacial melt threatens these ecosystem services and livelihoods, presenting a serious challenge in these countries where about one in four jobs are in agriculture.
This amount will be spent to enhance agriculture production and the upgradation of irrigation system in Pakistan.
The Asian Development Bank will spend a total of $3.25 billion on the project over the next 10 years.
Reporter: Waqas Azeem