USAID has made climate-resilience—being able to adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change—a key focus of its 2022-2030 Climate Strategy. Reducing exposure and vulnerability to climate disasters, cutting back greenhouse gas emissions, and conserving biodiversity are all important aspects of building resiliency, and aid in the protection of sectors such as agriculture, health, energy, and water.
Below are just a few of the USAID-funded programs focused on aiding communities in becoming resilient against climate change.
USAID Resilience ANCHORS Activity
In anticipation of future shocks and stresses, USAID Resilience through Accelerating New Community-based Holistic Outcomes for Resource Sustainability (Resilience ANCHORS) activity’s overarching purpose is to increase the capacity of communities to sustainably protect and manage their natural resources and the wildlife economy.
The activity has implemented climate smart agricultural enterprises in the Southeast Lowveld of Zimbabwe in communities around Savé Valley Conservancy and Gonarezhou National Park. It has made significant progress towards increasing sustainable water of good quality and quantity to targeted communities in these landscapes.
Resilience ANCHORS has trained smallholder farmers in climate smart agriculture, established demonstration gardens, along with the required water sources, improved land use planning for the Nyangambe community, and enhanced natural resources governance for multiple communities. A total of 997 farmers have been trained in climate smart agriculture, focusing on minimum tillage, mulching, and using crop residue from previous harvests. These practices improve soil fertility and provide protection against nutrient loss and erosion.
In addition to new climate smart farming practices, 613 Resilience ANCHORS-trained farmers have begun to grow sorghum (a native grain crop) as an adaptation measure against climate change. Sorghum, as planted in basins and mulched, has already proven to be a more resilient crop with less moisture stress and higher yields in moderate to severe drought conditions than the more-widely grown corn.
Climate Resilient Cities Activity
Part of the USAID-funded Cities Development Initiative, the Climate Resilient Cities Activity is a five-year activity for advancing benchmarks for urban climate resilience in six cities in the Philippines: Batangas City, Legazpi City, Borongan City, Iloilo City, Cotabato City, and Zamboanga City.
The Climate Resilient Cities Activity will run until 2026, advancing resilience and green development in cities by strengthening their capacity to:
- Enhance stakeholders’ knowledge to use climate information for planning and decision-making
- Access and manage climate financing to scale up adaptation and innovative clean energy
- Develop nature-based solutions for mitigation and adaptation to extreme weather events (sometimes referred to as “green infrastructure”)
Follow this link to learn more about resilience-related resources and projects on Climatelinks.
Ariel Schindler
Ariel Schindler is a Communications and Knowledge Management Specialist on USAID’s Sharing Environment and Energy Knowledge (SEEK) contract, supporting Biodiversity and Climate. Ariel has a Master’s in Strategic Communications, with a focus on social impact and advocacy, from American University, and a BA in Environmental Science and Policy from Eckerd College.
