Nairobi – Kenya, February 2025
The CAA technical assistance provided by a specialized team at the Climate Risk Institute is collaborating with PAFID Kenya (Participatory Approaches for Integrated Development) for improved climate action by enhancing access to innovative farming technologies based on agroecological and regenerative conservation agriculture. They will explore ways of investing in private sector-driven innovative financing and parametric insurance support services for local farmers, particularly women.
Context
Counties in Kenya with low-lying, arid, and semi-arid landscapes, marked by unpredictable and unreliable rainfall, significantly contribute to land degradation challenges faced by smallholder farmers. Climate change intensifies these issues, particularly for Kenyan women in agriculture, by heightening vulnerability through disrupted livelihoods, water scarcity, crop failures, and limited access to financing. The existing gender gaps further amplify this unequal burden, as women often lack the resources and knowledge necessary for effective adaptation.
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PAFID Kenya Champions Inclusive Climate Solutions for Women Farmers
On February 18, 2025, PAFID Kenya, in collaboration with the Climate Risk Institute (CRI) implemented by Climate Action Africa in Nairobi, hosted a high-level stakeholders’ forum to advance inclusive climate solutions. The event brought together key actors from national and county governments, civil society organizations, the private sector, research institutions, and farmer associations. Together, they engaged in lively discussions aimed at strengthening climate resilience among women farmers in Tharaka Nithi, Kenya.
The forum underscored the urgent need for action, a point reinforced by leading media coverage. KTN News Kenya reported, “Climate change is no longer a distant threat—it is a daily reality for Kenyan farmers.” The discussions highlighted critical gaps, particularly in access to climate risk insurance, which remains limited for women in agriculture. To bridge this gap, PAFID, with support from the Global Affairs Canada funded program and technical experts at the Climate Risk Institute, is working to make climate insurance more inclusive and accessible.
Despite existing insurance mechanisms, women farmers continue to face financial barriers and systemic inequalities. Many lack access to the necessary resources to safeguard their livelihoods. There is an urgent need to empower women as equal partners in agribusiness—both at home and in their communities—so they can fully participate in climate adaptation efforts. Addressing this challenge is not just about protecting crops; it’s about ensuring the economic resilience of families and communities that depend on agriculture.
Listen to KTN News Kenya’s coverage on the state of climate insurance uptake here.
CAA Technical Assistance
The goal of the CAA technical assistance through the Global Affairs Canada “Expert Deployment Mechanism” is to address the following issues:
- First, enhancing access to Sustainable Agricultural Mechanization.
- Second, establishing and operationalizing innovative financing and insurance support services.
- Third, ensure effective management of the generated knowledge through M&E exercises.
By integrating parametric insurance and other financing schemes, and incorporating modern agricultural technologies, the technical assistance aims to remove barriers hindering the adoption of modern agricultural solutions and adaptive strategies while creating an enabling environment for smallholder women farmers. The project proposes to enhance the understanding of the necessary requirements for the development of gender-responsive parametric insurance schemes, especially for smallholder women farmers.
About Climate Action Africa
Based on needs identified at the local level, the Expert Deployment Mechanism – Climate Action Africa (EDM-CAA) initiative deploys Canadian climate change experts to partner with governments, NGOs, the private sector, civil society organizations and post-secondary institutions on targeted, short-term technical assistance in support of implementation of the Paris Climate Agreement across the region – with a focus on increasing women’s capabilities to fully participate as active agents of change.
Climate Action Africa (CAA) is funded by Global Affairs Canada | Affaires mondiales Canada and implemented by Alinea International, Econoler, and WSP in Canada.
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