A Philippine funding proposal on “Adapting Philippine Agriculture to Climate Change” was approved by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) during its 35th Board Meeting held in Songdo, Incheon in the Republic of Korea on March, 16. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), GCF, and the Philippine government will join hands for the US$39.2 million project, with an aim to boost the resilience of climate-vulnerable rural smallholder farmers in the country. “Through this, we are giving flesh to the President’s pronouncement in his first State of the Nation Address emphasizing that the production of farm inputs or the needs of farmers to increase their productivity should conform to the challenges brought by climate change and global warming,” said Department of Agriculture (DA) Senior Undersecretary Domingo F. Panganiban in a statement. The project is believed to play “a key role in advancing the country’s transition towards more sustainable, resilient, and inclusive agrifood systems.” At least 1.25 million rural men and women Filipino farmers will also benefit from the project by raising their awareness of climate risks and risk-reduction measures, building their capacity to develop enterprises and access finance and related technologies, and adopting climate-resilient agriculture (CRA) practices. The project will be supported by a US$26.2 million GCF grant andUS$12.9 million in co-financing from DA and the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA). “We are truly grateful to GCF for supporting this important and timely initiative that will help Filipino smallholder farmers adapt to and mitigate the impacts of the climate crisis on their livelihoods,” said Lionel Dabbadie, FAO Representative in the Philippines. “FAO is and will continue to remain committed to supporting the country in pursuing climate action through this initiative, leveraging our technical expertise and experience in climate-resilient agriculture that we will extend to the Philippine government, particularly our long-standing partners’ DA and PAGASA,” he added. The collaborative seven-year initiative aims to support the most vulnerable farmers, including women, youth, and indigenous communities by providing them with access to targeted climate information and technical services for CRA. “By assisting smallholder farmers in overcoming obstacles related to inputs and market access, and building their capacity to develop and implement CRA investment plans, the project will enable a sustainable shift to these crucial agricultural practices, thereby improving food security, household incomes, and resilience,” FAO said in a statement. “The project is also expected to deliver indirect benefits to over five million Filipinos, thanks to enhanced information systems and strengthened institutional capacity, which will advance the widespread adoption of CRA in the country,” it added. The Land Bank of the Philippines, a GCF Direct Access Entity, will also help in leveraging finance to increase farmers’ access to the bank’s lending programs. “The initiative will create mitigation gains by reducing emissions by some 4.38 metric tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent over a 20-year period as a result of the application of CRA practices and better land use,” the organization said. More frequent and catastrophic extreme weather events are expected to occur in the country due to the climate crisis.  Large parts of the country are also said to face further increased average temperatures due to global warming.