Islamabad (TDI): The Green Climate Fund (GCF) has approved a landmark $250 million funding for the Glaciers to Farms project, a major initiative led by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to help glacier-dependent regions, including Pakistan, combat the challenges posed by climate change.
The project will focus on improving agriculture and water management in Pakistan, Central Asia, and the South Caucasus, where communities rely heavily on glacier-fed rivers for essential needs such as farming, drinking water, and electricity.
This $250 million funding will be complemented by $3.25 billion from the ADB over the next decade. The funding will support initiatives across nine countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. These nations are all reliant on glacier-fed rivers for their water supply, making them particularly vulnerable as glaciers in the region melt at an accelerating rate.
In Pakistan, the initiative will focus on improving irrigation, water storage, and watershed management to help farmers adapt to the increasing risks of droughts, floods, and glacial lake floods, particularly in the northern mountain regions.
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The Swat River Basin is the primary focus of the project in Pakistan, covering 27 million hectares and benefiting 13 million people, including farmers and other vulnerable populations. Key project components will include climate and glacier assessments to better understand the risks and challenges, strengthened early warning systems for natural disasters like floods and droughts, support for agriculture through better water management and irrigation systems, and assistance to vulnerable communities, including social protection programs, health services, and local banking support for women-led agricultural businesses.
Yasmin Siddiqi, ADB’s Director, emphasized that rapid glacial retreat is one of the most complex challenges the region faces, and this initiative will help communities shift from short-term fixes to long-term, sustainable solutions that can protect lives and livelihoods both now and in the future.
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Thomas Eriksson, Director of the GCF, described the Glaciers to Farms plan as a truly innovative and collaborative effort. He pointed out that the initiative sets a benchmark for how countries in Central and West Asia can work together to protect their water and food systems from the impacts of climate change.
