The CRAFT project (June 2018 – May 2023), funded by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will increase the availability of climate smart foods for the growing populations of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The project is implemented by SNV (lead) in partnership with Wageningen University and Research (WUR), Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA), Agriterra, and Rabo Partnerships in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

Many countries across East Africa are experiencing rising temperatures, unpredictable rainfall patterns, and an increasing number of extreme weather events such as floods and prolonged droughts. Climate change is having far-reaching consequences not only for the agricultural sector, but also for the management of natural resources as well as the food security situation for the growing urban and rural population. Adoption of climate smart and ecologically sustainable production methods is key to improving productivity of the existing food crop production and supply systems.

The project will implement the following activities:

• Climate risk analysis of targeted value chains and identification of business opportunities that address climate change in agriculture.

• Business case development and co-investment through the climate innovation and investment facility with private sector, SMEs, and farmer cooperatives.

• Levering investments by facilitating access to finance in collaboration with financial institutions;

• Policy influencing and operationalisation of climate plans.

• Feedback of practical applicability of climate smart practices,  technologies, models and climate services.

Knowledge sharing and learning will be a cross-cutting element of the project. Practices, technologies, approaches and methodologies that have proven to be successful will be shared and scaled to increase their impact. Gender equality and opportunities for youth employment will be integrated in the project’s implementation.

The primary target groups of the project will include small and medium entrepreneurial farmers, SME agribusinesses, and service providers to these SMEs, as well as financial institutions and government agencies that play a key role in creating an enabling environment that can foster large-scale roll-out of climate smart agriculture in East Africa.

Objectives:

• Increasing the adoption of climate smart practices and technologies amongst farmers and agro-enterprises

• Increasing investments and business growth in climate smart value chains

• Increasing investments and business growth in climate smart value chains

• Creating the enabling environment necessary to ensure large-scale roll out of market driven climate smart agriculture