Green Climate Fund to invest 38 million EUR to strengthen climate-smart rice farming in Thailand

The five-year Thai Rice GCF project will benefit more than 250,000 smallholder farmers while mitigating 2.4 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent in Thailand’s agricultural sector.

On 25 October 2023, GIZ and the Green Climate Fund (GCF) signed the Funded Activity Agreement (FAA) for the project “Thai Rice: Strengthening Climate-Smart Rice Farming”. The project was approved during the 37th meeting of the GCF Board in Tbilisi, Georgia and proposed by GIZ as an accredited entity to the fund.

The Green Climate Fund is the largest international climate financing institution, investing in climate change projects in developing countries to support their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) in line with the Paris Agreement. As such, the Fund invests in climate change mitigation projects that reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as well as in climate change adaptation projects that alleviate the impacts of climate change.

The project “Thai Rice: Strengthening Climate-Smart Rice Farming” aims to promote low-emission and climate-resilient rice farming. During its 5-year implementation period, it will benefit more than 250,000 smallholder farmers in Thailand and mitigate 2.4 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. A cross-cutting project, it will both reduce emissions as well as reduce impacts from climate change on farmers.

Mafalda Duarte, Executive Director of the Green Climate Fund and Ms Katja Kammerer, Head of Department at GIZ, present signed copies of the Funded Activity Agreement for Thai Rice GCF during the 37th Meeting of the GCF Board in Tbilisi, Georgia

“Thai Rice GCF” has been developed across a multi-year stakeholder consultation process and is following a bottoms-up logic: the project aims to empower vulnerable smallholder farmers to make improved decisions in the face of climate change and enable access to climate-smart farming technologies.

The GCF has approved a 38-million euro grant contribution towards the project. The co-financing is provided by Thai public sector partners including the Thai Rice Department, the Bank for Agriculture and Agricultural Cooperatives (BAAC) and the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Planning (ONEP). It is supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and private sector partners.

Ms Ina Hommers, Director-General of Client liaison and business development at GIZ said, “The Thai Rice project neatly finds its place in the strengthening cooperation between GCF and GIZ and the growing trust between the two institutions.”

Mr Pavich Kasawong, Deputy Director-General of Thailand’s Department of Climate Change and Environment, delivers remarks via videoconference.

Mr Pavich Kasawong, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Climate Change and Environment (DDCE) said: “The GCF Thai Rice project aims to facilitate a transformational change in the Thai Rice sector. This will be achieved through a large-scale rollout of sustainable and climate-smart farming practices, ultimately benefiting thousands of farmers throughout Thailand.”

Project implementation is expected to start in 2024 and run through 2029.

Representatives from the Thai Rice Department, OLAM, and GIZ participated in the signing ceremony via videoconference from Bangkok.