$250m for glacier adaptation programme

The Green Climate Fund (GCF) has approved $250 million for Glaciers to Farms — a flagship adaptation programme led by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to build resilient water and agriculture systems for vulnerable communities in glacier-dependent regions of Central Asia, the South Caucasus, and Pakistan.

GCF's funding will be provided mostly as grants and invested alongside $3.25 billion from ADB over the next decade in a series of projects identified by the countries covered by the programme, according to ADB press statement received on Wednesday.

By investing in efficient irrigation, water storage, and watershed management, the projects will help improve agricultural productivity even as accelerated glacial melt increases the frequency of droughts or floods.

"Rapid glacial retreat is one of the most complex development challenges faced by our region," said ADB Director for Agriculture, Food, Nature, and Rural Development Yasmin Siddiqi.

"We need practical, scalable, and science-based solutions to help communities adapt. With catalytic support from GCF, Glaciers to Farms will help move the region beyond fragmented projects and towards systemic, long-term resilience that protects lives and livelihoods now and for future generations," Siddiqi added.

Glaciers to Farms covers nine ADB developing member countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan-which all rely on glacier and snow-fed rivers for agriculture, domestic water, and electricity generation.

Accelerated glacial melt threatens these ecosystem services and livelihoods, presenting a serious challenge in these countries where about one in four jobs are in agriculture. The programme will focus on four glacier-fed river basins-the Naryn and Pyanj in Central Asia, the Kura in the South Caucasus, and the Swat in Pakistan-covering roughly 27 million hectares.