The Alliance is part of CGIAR, a global research partnership for a food-secure future.

About the consultancy

Climate change (CC) presents significant challenges to livestock systems. Livestock systems in turn contribute significantly to CC - necessitating the adoption of sustainable practices to mitigate emissions and enhance resilience in these systems. This activity focuses on conducting a comprehensive review of climate financial mechanisms to support the development of resilient and low-emissions livestock systems in LATAM and Africa.

Despite the substantial GHG emissions reductions attainable in livestock production systems, actions and investments to foster a meaningful transition to low-emissions livestock production are lacking. In the last decade, only US$106 billion (less than 1% of the total US$186 billion global climate finance) was directed to the livestock sector  (Gerber et al., 2021). Therefore, by creating financial incentives for farmers, institutions, and governments, climate finance can play a pivotal role in the development and scaling of climate-friendly technologies and contribute to both climate mitigation and adaptation as well as food security on a global scale.

Objective

The primary objective of this activity is to evaluate the options, effectiveness, and suitability of existing public and private climate financial mechanisms for enhancing the adoption of sustainable practices in livestock systems. This effort will focus on supporting African Union member states, Latin American countries, and climate projects co-funded by others.

The activity will also assess both public and private financing mechanisms and explore innovative approaches for mobilizing finances to support the transition into sustainable livestock production. Public financing will include the Green Climate Fund (GCF), MDB financing (i.e., World Bank, AfDB, IADB), and IKI funding, while private financing will cover voluntary carbon markets, impact funds, and concessional loans. Additionally, the study will explore innovative financial vehicles to enhance investment in sustainable livestock systems, with a focus on large and small ruminants.

In addition to identifying viable financing pathways, the activity will aim to address barriers faced by governments and the private sector in building successful livestock climate finance mechanisms.

The expected outcomes include identifying opportunities and challenges associated with different financial mechanisms and providing actionable recommendations for policymakers, practitioners, and investors. These recommendations will aim to accelerate the transition toward more sustainable, resilient, and climate-friendly livestock systems while addressing the unique needs and contexts of LATAM and African Union member states in combating climate change.

Activities

The review will involve a comprehensive examination of available options for climate financial mechanisms, and their application to livestock systems.

A key component of the methodology will be consultations with policymakers, stakeholders, and governments from African Union (AU) member states (3-5 countries defined by GIZ) and key livestock-producing countries in Latin America (e.g., Brazil and Colombia).

These consultations will play a pivotal role in identifying unique opportunities and barriers to accessing and implementing climate financial mechanisms. The insights gathered will be used to develop a roadmap to exploit available opportunities, overcome the barriers, and accelerate the transition into sustainable livestock systems through the development of climate financial projects in these regions.

This activity will focus on the following key areas:

1.   Overview on the importance of climate finance, opportunities, and bottlenecks in supporting adoption of improved practices in livestock production systems in Africa and LATAM (3-5 pages).

o   Provide an overview of key features of livestock practices in Africa and Latam.

o   Assess the viability of improved livestock practices and mechanisms for enhancing their adoption in Africa and LATAM

o   Provide an overview of the importance of climate finance in supporting the adoption of improved livestock practices.

o   Highlight opportunities to enhance financial mechanisms for promoting sustainable practices.

o   With the support of GIZ and AU-IBAR, consult key countries representatives to identify key bottlenecks that hinder access to public and private climate finance in these regions.

2   Assess the eligibility criteria and operationalization of public and private climate finance to support adoption of improved livestock production and evaluate the ability of the targeted African and LATAM countries to access them (8-12 pages).

o   Existing public financing, inc. the Green Climate Fund (GCF); World Bank, IADB and African Development Bank financing; and IKI (International Climate Initiative) funding; and private financing, inc. voluntary carbon markets, impact funds, and concessional loans.

-  Review how these existing financial mechanisms operate, e.g., definition, eligibility criteria, procedure of application, conditions, type of MRV, potential opportunities (pros and cons), barriers and bottlenecks for engagement, and other relevant information.

3.