The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) says it will require $1.6 trillion to restore about 1 billion hectares of land across the world by 2030.
IFAD was reacting to the figure released by the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in its Global Land Outlook.
In a statement on Wednesday, the international body said 20 to 40 percent of the land on earth has been degraded and has directly affected nearly half of the world’s population.
It added that the degraded hectares of land has threatened roughly half of the global gross domestic products (GDP), amounting to $44 trillion, the International Fund for Agricultural Development
According to IFAD, the figure released by UNCCD prompted it to call for a significant increase in investments to help small-scale farmers protect and restore lands and ecosystems.
However, it disclosed that nations have pledged to restore 1 billion degraded hectares of land by 2030, stressing that nations must build their smallholders’ farmers’ resilience to climate change to ensure long-term global food security.
The statement reads, “IFAD is determined to increase its commitments to land restoration and building the resilience of small-scale producers. Today, IFAD will announce its support to the Abidjan Legacy Programme with a $130 million contribution through ongoing investments and new funding. Promoted by Ivory Coast, host of COP15, the Abidjan Legacy Programme is an ambitious multi-partner initiative, which aims to ensure the environmental sustainability of food value chains.
“IFAD also supports the Great Green Wall (GGW) initiative through its own investments in the 11 Great Green Wall countries amounting to $1.4 billion as well as through multiple regional programmes totalling about $480 million in collaboration with partners that include the African Development Bank, Africa Risk Capacity, the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the Food and Agriculture Organization, UNCCD and the World Food Programme.”
IFAD added that annual costs to adapt to climate change in developing countries are expected to rise to between $140 billion and $300 billion by 2030.
It stated that finance for adaptation was far from answering the needs and reached $46 billion in 2019/2020, while small-scale farmers received less than 2 per cent of climate finance.
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