The UN Environment Programme is helping the government of Rwanda to build the climate resilience of people living near the Gishwati area. The local population depends hugely on rain-fed crops, but the region is under immense pressure from climate change and erratic rainfall. The project’s main approaches were to: Build an extensive early warning climate system to help farmers prepare in advance for extreme weather; develop alternative climateresilient livelihoods like beekeeping; restore over 1,300 hectares of forests to reduce floods and drought; and plant 91,700 fruit trees to enhance food security.
The Global Environment Facility (GEF) is a multilateral fund dedicated to confronting biodiversity loss, climate change, pollution, and strains on land and ocean health. Over the past three decades, the GEF has provided more than $22 billion in financing and mobilized another $120 billion for more than 5,000 national and regional projects.