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Locally led, globally backed
Progress on climate action means closing the gap between global commitments and local solutions that build lasting resilience.
Only a small fraction of climate funds currently reach smallholder farmers, pastoralists, Indigenous Peoples, and other frontline communities advancing resilient crops, regenerative farming and ecosystem stewardship.
At SNV, we partner with communities, governments and investors across sectors to bridge global ambitions with local climate actions. Our experience shows transformation happens when resources flow directly to local efforts, and where integrated strategies yield sustainable results.
Now is a critical moment to close the gap, scale proven approaches fast and prioritise locally led action.
Why invest in locally led climate action
Despite contributing the least to the climate crisis, smallholders and other local actors in low- and middle-income countries bear the brunt of climate impacts, from catastrophic floods, to prolonged droughts.
Yet, they are also uniquely positioned to drive solutions, producing one-third of the world’s food, stewarding generations of ecological knowledge, and leading innovations - from climate-resilient crops to regenerative agriculture.
Every dollar invested in climate adaptation can yield ten times that in social and environmental benefits over time. However, barely 2% of global climate finance currently goes to smallholders, and even less reaches marginalised communities. Moreover, climate adaptation often tackles food, water and energy separately, leading to fragmentation and short-lived outcomes.
To build effective and just climate solutions, we must reimagine global climate policies and capital flows to support national commitments, local institutions and grassroots innovations. This shift must be integrated and equitable.
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Rethinking climate action:
Three priorities
1. Make global finance locally accessible
Barriers to smallholder and community-level finance are shaped by perception gaps, high transaction costs and systemic hurdles.
Climate finance must therefore be made easier to access. This means aligning it with local and national priorities, creating enabling policy environments, and building technical capacity for smallholders and local communities to develop bankable projects.
Technical assistance and innovative models, such as first-loss guarantees and results-based financing, can mitigate early risk and attract private investment for impact at scale. Examples:
In Vietnam, shrimp producer Camimex is supporting livelihoods, restoring 16,500 hectares of mangroves and sequestering 10 million tonnes of CO2.
Across three East African countries, agribusinesses and farmer cooperatives are scaling climate-resilient farming.
In Kenya’s arid regions, agro-pastoralist communities are expanding drought-resistant forage production.
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"Our journey has been transformative. We are setting new standards for the industry, proving that profitability and ecological responsibility can go hand in hand."
Dang Ngoc Son, General Director of Camimex, Vietnam
2. Integrate food, water and energy
Climate action that integrates food, water and energy systems leads to more sustainable outcomes. Climate-related challenges around these systems are deeply interconnected, so they require unified solutions to support resilience.
Scaling regenerative practices, improving water resource management and expanding renewables in a holistic and participatory manner brings multiple benefits for livelihoods, ecosystems and the climate.
Farmers and other local actors in Greater Jakarta, Indonesia are restoring watersheds by adopting regenerative agriculture and agroforestry, and forming multi-stakeholder forums to manage water resources collaboratively.
In Kenya’s Ewaso Nyíro basin, smallholder farmers have applied interconnections between water, energy and agri-food by integrating solar technology to support crop irrigation.
In 27 countries, millions of farmers are showing how systems can work together by adopting biodigesteres - turning farm waste into clean fuel and organic fertiliser, improving soils and health while reducing emissions and deforestation.
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"For me it's about resilience, not just survival."
Mercy Gatwiri, a young farmer from Laikipia County, Kenya
3. Centre inclusion and local ownership
Climate action finance must be inclusive and drive local ownership.
Women, youth, Indigenous Peoples, and marginalised groups need the opportunity to lead on adaptation and mitigation. Equity and inclusion strengthen outcomes and ensures benefits are broadly shared.
In the Sahel, local champions are spearheading innovations such as climate-resilient forage production in Mali, to improve food security, enhance land productivity and cut greenhouse gas emissions – often with impacts that ripple out across communities.
In Nepal, community members are championing climate-resilient WASH, supported by efforts to institutionalise gender equality and inclusive governance.
Women in Uganda are transforming rural water access by becoming skilled Hand Pump Mechanics, breaking gender barriers and building community water systems that are more reliable, inclusive and climate-resilient.
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Closing the gap
How more acccessible, integrated and equitable global climate finance can deliver local action
Read the Explainer
Learn more about our work on Climate Adaptation and Mitigation
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