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The Governing Board of the Climate Investment Funds (CIF) has approved Zambia’s Nature, People, and Climate Investment Plan (ZNPCI), allocating US$34.65 million to fund nature-based solutions addressing climate change impacts in Central, Copperbelt, and North-Western Provinces.
Green Economy and Environment Minister, Mike Mposha, announced the development in a statement issued in Lusaka on Sunday evening.
Mposha said Zambia’s plan was approved alongside Ethiopia’s Nature, People, and Climate Investment Plan on December 4, 2024.
“Of the US$34.65 million from the CIF, US$33 million has been allocated to the government through Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs), including the African Development Bank (AfDB), the World Bank (WB), and the International Finance Corporation (IFC),” he stated.
The remaining US$1.65 million, designated as MDB Project Implementation Support Services (MPIS), would be used for project management fees.
The ZNPCI outlined US$221.1 million in expected co-financing from the AfDB, WB, and IFC, bringing the total investment plan to US$255.75 million.
It is also designed to attract additional financing from bilateral and multilateral partners as well as private sector investments.
Furthermore, the CIF, through the Dedicated Grant Mechanism (DGM), would provide an additional US$4 million directly to vulnerable communities in the three provinces to support biodiversity conservation and community-led initiatives to diversify livelihoods.
Mposha emphasized that the implementation of the ZNPCI would benefit over 310,000 small-scale farmers, particularly women, youth, persons with disabilities, and older people.
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The programme includes conservation agriculture, improved animal husbandry, and sustainable management of over 110,000 hectares of forests.
The initiative is expected to deliver approximately 2.67 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent in greenhouse gas emission reductions.
Target districts include Chitambo, Kapiri Mposhi, Mkushi, Ngabwe, and Serenje in Central Province; Lufwanyama, Masaiti, Mpongwe, and Mufulira in Copperbelt Province; and Chavuma, Ikelenge, Kalumbila, Kasempa, Mushindamo, Mwinilunga, and Zambezi in North-Western Province.
The ZNPCI’s endorsement follows Zambia’s successful submission of an Expression of Interest to the CIF’s Nature, People, and Climate Programme in November 2022 and the submission of the investment plan in October 2024.
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