On February 7th and 8th 2023 a workshop on adaptation and disaster risk financing took place in Lusaka as part of the AGRICA risk financing component. The climate risk analyses for adaptation planning in sub-Saharan Africa (AGRICA) project implemented by the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) and GIZ on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) aims at providing scientific evidence on climate risks in the agricultural and water sector and suggesting suitable adaptation measures.
AGRICA’s risk financing component has the objective of supporting the Government of Zambia in moving closer to the implementation of climate risk management measures. On the one hand this is achieved through analyzing suitable financing instruments for the adaptation measures prioritized within the AGRICA climate risk analysis, namely conservation agriculture and enhancing early warning systems. On the other hand, the component is developing a roadmap for a climate and disaster risk financing (CDRF) strategy to manage residual climate risks through risk financing instruments.
The preliminary results of the analysis on adaptation financing were presented on day one and participants shared their valuable feedback on the shortlisted instruments and validated their rankings. Four financing instruments have been prioritized: the National Climate Financing Vehicle, the TerraFund, Carbon Credits, and ideally the CREWS initiative.
Day two served as a kick-off event to assess Zambia’s interest in and opportunities for establishing a Climate and Disaster Risk Finance Strategy. There was a lot of interest in such a strategy and the valuable insights by participants will help the project to conduct an initial assessment on the protection gap and present a roadmap for the development of the risk financing strategy.
Ms. Mercy C. Munoni, Acting Director of Economic Management Department at the Ministry of Finance and National Planning, who gave the opening remarks on behalf of the Secretary to the Treasury Mr. Felix Nkulukusa, “welcomes any support on developing a Climate and Disaster Risk Financing Strategy that helps to decide for which risk level which risk finance instrument is most suitable.” Ms. Munoni emphasized that the Ministry of Finance and National Planning is “very much looking forward to this joint endeavor of making Zambia and particularly Zambia’s agricultural sector more resilient to climate change.” The project will therefore continue its close engagement with the Ministry of Finance and National Planning, the Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit, the ADRiFi Programme by the African Development Bank, the African Risk Capacity (ARC) and further relevant stakeholders.
Participants of the workshop included representatives from the German Embassy, Ministry of Finance and National Planning, Disaster Management and Mitigation Unit, Ministry of Green Environment and Economy, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock, Bank of Zambia, Development Bank of Zambia, Zambia Meteorological Department, ZANACO, Pension and Insurance Authority, IFAD, African Development Bank, African Risk Capacity (ARC), WeForest, BGR, PIK, University of Galway, Genesis Analytics, and GIZ.
For further information please contact Anna-Sophia Elm (anna-sophia.elm@giz.de).
