Biodiversity Financing Facility

More than 85% of Ugandans live in rural areas. Despite this, agriculture contributes only 22% of Uganda’s overall domestic production, and food production barely satisfies the demand of the rapidly growing population. However, according to the 2016 Poverty Assessment, Uganda has reduced monetary poverty at a very rapid rate. The proportion of the Ugandan population living below the national poverty line declined from 31.1% in 2006 to 19.7% in 2013. Nonetheless, the country is lagging behind in several important non-monetary areas, notably improved sanitation, access to electricity, education, and also in environmental protection and the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. In order to accelerate the development in the environmental sector, it was decided to include biodiversity-friendly financing investments in the private sector in the Agrifinance Enhancement Programme.

The Agrifinance Enhancement Programme consists of two components, an Agricultural Lines-of-Credit Component which is already being implemented, and a Biodiversity Investment Component. The financial contribution for the Biodiversity Component is foreseen to comprise funds for refinancing of selected biodiversity-friendly financing investments in the private sector in Uganda by the EADB (the “Biodiversity Financing Facility”). The biodiversity financing facility has received a grant for expert services and accompanying measures (the project) in order to ensure the biodiversity relevance and outcome of financed investments. The biodiversity financing facility will be open for funding investments in the fields of fisheries and aquaculture, organic agriculture, forests and protected areas, and sustainable tourism.

Objectives:

The Project-Executing Agency shall use the financial contribution for the refinancing of selected biodiversity friendly financing investments in the private sector in Uganda. The PEA shall channel the Biodiversity Investment Contribution to about 4 to 12 end-beneficiaries as local currency loans. The loan amount per individual investment shall range around 0.5-1.5 million Euros.

Services provided include, but are not limited to:

  • Project management and Project planning
  • Design of a credit line for biodiversity-friendly investments
  • Facilitating technical and financial implementation
  • Management of the Disposition Fund Account
  • Public Awareness Building