Resilient and Low Carbon Tree Crop Extension Project II · project also intends to reduce fuelwood-induced deforestation The TCEP II project is planned to address the main obstacles

Resilient and Low Carbon Tree Crop Extension Project II

Liberia | International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

4 April 2018

Please submit the completed form to [email protected], using the following name convention in the subject line and file name: “CN-[Accredited Entity or Country]-YYYYMMDD”

Project/Programme Title: Resilient and Low Carbon Tree Crop Extension Project II

Country(ies): Liberia

National Designated Authority(ies) (NDA):

Dr. Anyaa Vohiri, Executive Director Environmental Protection Agency, Executive Director

Executing Entities:

Accredited Entity(ies) (AE):

Ministry of Agriculture, Government of Liberia

IFAD

Date of first submission/ version number: [2018-02-16] [V.1]

Date of current submission/ version number [2018-04-04] [V.1]

mailto:[email protected]

Simplified Approval Process CONCEPT NOTE Template V.1 GREEN CLIMATE FUND | PAGE 1 OF 4

A. Project / Programme Information (max. 1 page) A.1. Project or programme ☒ Project

☐ Programme A.2. Public or private sector

☒ Public sector ☒ Private sector

A.3. Indicate the result areas for the project/programme

Mitigation: Reduced emissions from:

☒ Energy access and power generation

☐ Low emission transport

☐ Buildings, cities and industries and appliances

☒ Forestry and land use Adaptation: Increased resilience of:

☒ Most vulnerable people and communities

☒ Health and well-being, and food and water security

☒ Infrastructure and built environment

☒ Ecosystem and ecosystem services

A.4. Estimated mitigation impact (tCO2eq over lifespan)

955 ktCO2eq using EX-ACT

A.5. Estimated adaptation impact (number of direct beneficiaries and % of population)

8,000 households, based on IFAD-GoL project’s number of beneficiaries

A.6. Indicative total project cost (GCF + co-finance)

Amount: USD 7.5 million (GCF) + USD38 million (IFAD)

A.7. Indicative GCF funding requested (max 10M)

Amount: USD7.5 million

A.8. Mark the type of financial instrument requested for the GCF funding

☒ Grant ☐ Loan ☐ Guarantee Other: specify___________________

A.9. Estimated duration of project/ programme: 6 years A.10. Estimated project/

Programme lifespan 6 years for project and 14 year of capitalization

A.11. Is funding from the Project Preparation Facility needed?

Yes ☐ No ☒

A.12. Confirm overall ESS category is minimum to no risk1

☒ C or I-3

A.13. Provide rational for the ESS categorization (100 words)

According to GCF's screening questions and IFAD's Social and Environmental Climate Assessment Procedures, the project presents limited environmental and social risks. The risk of child labour (as defined by ILO) is limited on cocoa plantations in Liberia. IFAD-GoL’s project will contribute to establish a baseline and conduct awareness campaigns on the issue during the selection of communities, as well as households and to set up of farmer field schools to minimize the risk of child labour. The GCF-funded project is also intended to improve the environmental sustainability through reduced emissions from deforestation, improved carbon sinks and strengthened resilience.

A.14. Has the CN been shared with the NDA? Yes ☐ No ☒ A.15. Confidentiality2 ☐ Confidential

☐ Not confidential

A.16. Project/Programme rationale, objectives and approach of programme/project (max 100 words)

Cocoa production in Liberia is projected to be adversely affected by future climate changes. In addition, extending cocoa production could also lead to negative consequences on forest cover, hence Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions through deforestation. This project aims at climate proofing and mainstreaming climate change in a new IFAD-GoL’s cocoa value-chain development investment, the Tree Crop Revitalization Support Project II in Liberia. This climate additional financing, intends to support a sustainable transformation of the cocoa sub-sector by (1) strengthening forest protection through improved agricultural practices and facilitating the implementation of the country’s forest strategy and (2) building resilience to climate change and weather extremes (including extreme heat, droughts, and flooding events) on the cocoa sub-sector all along its value-chain. The project will be executed by the Ministry of Agriculture in partnership with IFAD. Brief summary of the problem statement and climate rationale, objective and selected implementation approach, including the executing entity(ies) and other implementing

1 Refer to the SAP ESS Guidelines 2 Concept notes (or sections of) not marked as confidential may be published in accordance with the Information Disclosure Policy (Decision B.12/35) and the Review of the Initial Proposal Approval Process (Decision B.17/18).

http://www.greenclimate.fund/documents/20182/184476/GCF_B.12_32_-_Decisions_of_the_Board___Twelfth_Meeting_of_the_Board__8_10_March_2016.pdf/020edfa1-53b2-4abf-af78-fccf5628db2a

http://www.greenclimate.fund/documents/20182/751020/GCF_B.17_18_-_Review_of_the_initial_proposal_approval_process.pdf/559e7b1c-7f34-44dd-9eff-8fa235714312


partners, including who will be implementing the measures to manage the environmental and social risks.

B. Project / Programme details (max. 3 pages) B.1. Context and Baseline (max. 1 page) Economic growth, recovery from the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) crisis, a need to reduce rural poverty and create employment for young people in rural areas, mean modernizing the agricultural economy including the tree crop subsector for which Liberia has comparative advantage. The IFAD-funded Tree Crops Extension Project II (TCEP II) is designed to build on the achievements and capitalise on lessons learned from the IFAD co-financed Smallholder Tree Crop Revitalization Support Project (STCRSP) implemented in Lofa County. TCEP II is part of a programmatic intervention and combines with the recently entered into force Tree Crops Extension Project (TCEP I), which will be implemented in the neighbouring county of Nimba. In the context of TCEP I, the country also is also benefiting from an additional support provided by the IFAD’s ASAP3 to better address some of the climate constraints on the subsector. However, many important gaps remain, including the lack of technical knowhow and human resources required to implement a climate resilient tree crop value chain. As a post-conflict country with limited fiscal space and still recovering from the Ebola outbreak, capacity to fund such adaptive and mitigation measures in the cocoa subsector is still highly limited, particularly when focusing on smallholder farmers. Describe as relevant the climate vulnerabilities and impacts, GHG emissions profile, and mitigation and adaptation needs that the prospective intervention is envisaged to address. Recent studies show that cocoa production in Western and Central Africa is expected to be negatively affected by future climate change. Such losses would negatively impact Liberia’s high economic cocoa potential and productivity. In turn, this would limit smallholders’ income generation capacity and aggravate country's trade balance (i.e. cocoa represents 7.0 per cent of Liberia total export for 2016). • Recent studies (Schroth et al., 2016) show that the climatic suitability of cocoa production in the regions of Nimba

and Lofa might decrease as a consequence of climate change. Climatic suitability4 of these regions could drop from about 50-60 per cent in present years to 20-30 per cent in the 2050s (for the period 2040-2069 in the Representative Concentration Pathway 6.0 (RCP6.0) scenario using 19 Global Circulation Models (GCMs) from the CMIP5 database). The maps below show the change in suitability of cocoa production for Liberia. Lofa and Timba currently display high climatic suitability (50-70 percent) for cocoa production, at the exception of the Northern part of the Lofa region – which with a suitability between 20 and 40 percent. With further warming as a consequence of climate change, a larger share of the two regions could become less suitable. In the Lofa region, the area between Zorzor, Bella Yella and Gelahun could see its suitability decrease by a range of -39 to -20 percent in the 2050s compared to present days. In the Nimba region, the area exposed to decreasing suitability could be even larger as all the area from Sanniquellie and Gboyi could also experience a decrease in the same range as the one observed in Lofa.

3 IFAD ASAP – Adaptation for Smallholder Agriculture Programme is the largest adaptation financing facility for smallholder farmers. 4 Climatic suitability is defined including (1) the maximum temperature reached during the year and parameters describing the dry season, such as (2) the total rainfall during the year, (3) the number of consecutive months with below 100 mm of rainfall, and (4) the difference between total rainfall and total Estimating Potential Evapotranspiration (ETP, an indicator of the hydrological water balance) during the driest quarter of the year.


Figure 1 Current and projected suitability of Liberia as a consequence of climate change (RCP6.0 scenario). The left-hand side panel presents the current (centred around 2015) and projected (centred around 2050) suitability. The right-hand side panel presents the change in suitability between the current and projected periods. Source: Schroth et al., (2016).

• Precipitations patterns as projected by regional climate models in the RCP4.5 and 8.5 scenarios show that (1) relatively no change in the mean precipitation in the 2040s (2035-2065), while (2) the frequency of extreme precipitation could increase from 5 to 20 per cent in both scenarios in the same time period and could be further amplified later in the century (Sylla, Nikiema, Gibba, Kebe, & Browne Klutse, 2016). The projections for extremes precipitations show a particular increase for the regions at the border with Guinea, where the project is planned. This possible increase in precipitation extremes will further degrade the quality of roads and disrupt the cocoa value-chain.

• Cocoa production extension could lead to an increase in deforestation in the regions of production. As a consequence, deforestation, could induce an increase in GHG emissions and therefore reduce country’s sink capacity. Deforestation would also have a negative impact on biodiversity as well as forests’ flood protection capacity. Another large driver of deforestation in Liberia is charcoal, by using cocoa production wastes as fuel, the project also intends to reduce fuelwood-induced deforestation

The TCEP II project is planned to address the main obstacles to the growth of the cocoa sector: limited access to quality inputs, poor tree management skills, financial constraints and limited access to credit, poor farm-to-farm linkages, very poor physical connections and poorly functioning market players. These problems were identified in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture of the GoL. By affecting precipitation and temperature patterns, climate change could aggravate the existing obstacles and add new ones. For example, (1) more fluctuating cocoa production as a consequence of changing temperature and precipitation patterns could affect farmers’ income and therefore increase financial constraints and financial institutions willingness to lend; (2) increasing frequency of heavy precipitation and flooding events could decrease production (see Figure 2), access to quality inputs, interrupt / disrupt already poor physical connections.


Because of the climate vulnerabilities and impacts on the cocoa sector, additional support to foster a transformation of the rural and cocoa sector is now sought. According to FAO EcoCrop, for Theobroma Cocoa, the optimal temperature ranges from 21°C to 32°C, with absolute minimum from 10°C to maximum 38°C; the optimal precipitation for temperature fluctuates between 1200mm and 3000mm, with absolute definition ranging from 900 to 7600mm (see Table 1). Outside the range of optimal production, the productivity of cocoa quickly decreases.

Theobroma Cacao Annual mean temp. (in °C)

Annual precipitation (in mm/year)

Dry months (consecutive months) Min./max. range (in °C)

Optimal 22–25 1200-3000 0 21-32 Tolerance 20-27 900-7600 1-3 10-38

Table 1 Climatic limits of Theobroma Cacao. Source: FAO EcoCrop & Schroth et al., 2016

Flooding events can also lead to a significant decrease in in the growth of cocoa trees and therefore production. The figure below (Figure 1) shows the change in dry weight of Theobroma cacao as a consequence of flooding condition compared to non-flooded conditions (Gomes & Kozlowski, 1986). The longer the flooding exposure the more negative the effects of the physiological development and growth of the tree. Furthermore, more recent studies have shown that an exposure to flooding longer than 30 days can also lead to the death of the threes (Bertolde et al., 2012). Depending on the topography of the plantations, increasing extreme precipitation events induced by future climate change (Sylla, Nikiema, Gibba, Kebe, & Klutse, 2016) could lead to decreasing production particularly on the plots poorly drained or with limited slopes.

Figure 2 Change in dry weight produced by Theobroma cacao as consequence of flooding conditions compared to non-flooded conditions. Source: Gomes & Kozlowski, (1986)

The GCF support aims at addressing both potential climate change impacts on the cocoa production and value-chain and the latent negative implications of the cocoa production extension on carbon sinks and GHG emissions. Therefore, this additional climate financing from the GCF will be used to strengthen the resilience of the cocoa sector against the impacts of climate change and reduce the potential negative impacts of cocoa production extension on carbon sinks and GHG emissions. Please indicate how the project fits in with the country’s national priorities, action plans and programs and its full ownership of the concept. The project is fully aligned with the objectives of Liberia’s Agenda for Transformation: Step Towards Liberia Rising 2030. The project is consistent with the objectives of the National Forest Regulations, Acts and Policies (2003, 2006, 2007, 2011, 2015), the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC, 2015), agricultural policies and investment plans. For the agricultural sector, the strategic objective is to “increase agricultural productivity, value-added and environmental sustainability” with tree crops being identified as one of the most promising sectors of the economy. In the absence of adequate climate-resilient planning of the development of the tree crop subsector, particularly with respect to cocoa production, the promise of growth in this sector could be severely weakened by climate change. The TCEP-II project and the present GCF proposal concur with the attainment of the objective of the government set in its NDC. The GCF additional financing appears highly necessary to ensure the resilience the sector, in view of the GoL’s limited budgetary capacity in general and of the high number of vulnerable smallholder farmers and actors with bounded knowledge and practices to manage climate risks in the cocoa sector. In the mitigation component of the NDC, the government defined ambitious activities with respect to the use of biomass, the improvement of the quality and reliability of transport infrastructure and services. In the adaptation component, GoL identifies enhancing the resilience of the agricultural sector to increasing rainfall variability as one of the three priority areas. In this priority, the government particularly highlight two activities, which are the most relevant to the TCEP-II project and the current proposal. The two activities are: (1) Develop and promote drought-resistant, flood- tolerant and early maturing crop species; (2) Pest control including fencing of farms against rodents, birds scarecrows, regular weeding, and the use of high echoing bells; and (3) Develop climate resilient crop/agroforestry diversification and livestock production systems. The government also highlighted priority activities in relation with the forestry sector, which include: increase in awareness in forest protection; protection of forest and biodiversity-rich forest zones. The GCF grant resources are

-100-80-60-40-20

02040

15 days 30 days 45 days 60 days

Leaves

Stems

Shoots

Roots

Whole plants


fundamental for ensuring long-term sustainability of the proposed interventions along the entire cocoa value chain (supply, production, processing, and marketing). Describe the main root causes and barriers (social, gender, fiscal, regulatory, technological, financial, ecological, institutional, etc.) that need to be addressed. Where relevant, please describe the key characteristics and dynamics of the sector or market. Technical and human capacities as well as access to information are the key limitations. These obstacles can be clustered following three key categories: (1) production and post-harvest losses; (2) processing, market connectivity and (3) quality. In production, the GoL in partnership with IFAD identified limited access to quality inputs, poor tree management skills, which will be both amplified by a decreasing climatic suitability for cocoa production and unsustainable forest practices. Addressing these constraints includes, among other things, improving water efficiency and crop diversification measures in cocoa plantations, ensuring tree shading to buffer the effects of rising temperatures. To enable better preparation against extreme weather events, particularly heavy precipitation and floods, further strengthening the availability of weather information to smallholder farmers could contribute to mitigate the negative impacts of extremes. In relation with market connectivity, financial constraints and limited access to credit, poor farm-to-farm linkages, very poor physical connections could be aggravated by an increase in extreme precipitation events leading not only to more frequent value-chain disruption but also increase in household expenditures for reconstruction following extreme events. Finally, poorly functioning market players will also be further affected by extreme precipitation events (heavy rain and floods), road destruction and business disruption. B.2. Project / Programme description (max. 1 page) Describe the expected set of components and activities to address the above barriers identified that will lead to the expected outcomes. The GCF-funded project is considered as an additional climate financing to climate-proof and mainstreaming climate considerations in IFAD-GoL’s investment on TCEP-II. The GCF project aims at providing direct support to 8,000 smallholder cocoa farmers in their transition to more sustainable forest management practices and adaption to climate change while facilitating their access to markets. The IFAD-GoL project, the baseline investment, identifies three technical components. The first component focuses on productivity and production: (1) the sustainable revitalization of cocoa plantations; the second one on market access and infrastructure (2) rehabilitation and maintenance of roads and the third one on supporting the cocoa value chain (3) services provision for value-chain development. Within these three components, planned activities will be modified and new ones added in order to better integrate climate risk mitigation measures along the cocoa value chain and reduce the potentially negative impacts of cocoa expansion of the carbon sinks and GHG emissions. The table below presents the activities in the project. These activities are prioritized following a set of indicators which include: (1) the urgency of the impact; (2) the cost of the measure; (3) the benefits of the measure for women and vulnerable groups; and (4) the overall weighted sum of the measure. The priority ranking of the measure is noted into brackets after the activity. The table and list of indicators are available in annex (Figure 1).

Component Type of activity Value-chain component Activity Funding

source

1- Sustainable revitalization of cocoa production

Capacity building

Production & Marking (quality label)

• Emphasize diversification of cocoa farms with useful trees and crops that also provide microclimatic protection, reducing heat stress during the dry season (#1).

• Establish procedures facilitating farmers to grow and market native timber trees on their farms as a diversification option (#1).

• Include conservation of trees on farms and in the landscape, including riparian forests, in training curricula for extensionists and farmers (#1).

IFAD GCF GCF

Forest conservation Production

Promote the use of cocoa waste as energy source to reduce the pressure on forests for fuelwood / charcoal (#2).

GCF

Crop and site selection Production

At the start of the TCEPII project in Lofa, conduct workshops with farmers and other stakeholders discussing to identify most suitable sites. Maps presenting soil quality and change in climatic suitability in the area are employed (#4).

GCF

Site selection Production

Conducting a study on the effect of flooding events on cocoa production in the Lofa and Nimba regions, with the objective of further understanding their impacts and proposing adaptation options (such as drainage).

GCF


Capacity building Production

Develop cocoa farm rehabilitation and replanting package emphasizing pruning and grafting, leading to smaller, more water-efficient trees for an overall hotter climate (#5).

IFAD

Germplasm Supply Develop public and/or private system providing cocoa planting materials to farmers at subsidized prices to avoid farmers planting their own unimproved seeds (#7).

IFAD

2- Climate-proofing, rehabilitation and maintenance of roads

Quality Marketing

Road improvement and climate-proofing. To avoid unintended negative consequences, being careful not to improve access to previously inaccessible forest areas and inadvertently cause deforestation (#3).

IFAD

3- Service provision for value-chain development

Quality Marketing Construction of humidity-controlled small warehouses (e.g. containers) to store dry cocoa beans during the wet season when roads are not practicable.

GCF

Capacity building

Production & Marking (quality label)

Emphasize fire control, especially in slash-and-burn areas, in farmer training to reduce fire risk to tree crop farms and forest in a hotter & drier climate (#6).

GCF

Finance & Forest conservation

Marketing (quality label)

Facilitate the implementation of the national REDD+ strategy in the cocoa sector and regions where the project is planned and explore the possibility of integrating result-based payments to smallholders sustainably managing forestry resources (#8).

GCF

4- Project management, including monitoring and evaluation

Capacity building Production

Remote sensing changes in forest cover in the areas of the project & training of local authorities to have access and use remote sensing (#9).

GCF

Please explain why this project or programme is ready for scaling up and having the potential for transformation. Has it been piloted in the country or region? Are the proposed interventions well documented for their costs and benefits? By addressing both adaptation and mitigation in the context of country’s economic development, the project intends to serve as an example of transformation in the cocoa subsector for the rest of the West and Central African countries to transition to more sustainable forest management practices5 and adapting cocoa value chains to climate change while facilitating their access to markets. The activities were selected not only based on additionality against the IFAD-GoL’s baseline investment, their resilience benefits but also in relation to their GHG emission mitigation potential and contribution to support the attainment of the SDGs. A specific attention was also brought to the ability of the activities to benefit particularly vulnerable groups such as young people and women. Describe in what way the Accredited Entity(ies) is well placed to undertake the planned activities and what will be the implementation arrangements with the executing entity(ies) and implementing partners. To avoid duplication and potential inefficiencies, the execution of the project will be performed by the same IFAD-GoL project Country Implementation Unit under the Ministry of Agriculture and in collaboration with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the GCF National Designated Authority. Owing to the risks induced by the extension of cocoa plantations on forests and the need to involve the national expertise on this issue, the Forestry Development Authority would also need to be considered as a key actors in the coordination of the project. The exact coordination mechanism would need to be further refined in discussion with the government and the relevant Ministries and Authorities in the development of the full detailed proposal. Please provide a brief overview of the key financial and operational risks and any mitigation measures identified. As for existing IFAD’s projects in the country and region, the additional funding brought by the GCF potentially risks to face some GoL’s limitations with respect to absorptive capacity. However, current and recent past projects for Liberia have been disbursed at a rate ranging from 95 to 100 per cent. Hence well designed and prepared, the funding can be properly managed and rapidly disbursed to engage the activities of the project. Furthermore, IFAD and GoL will significantly rely on existing channels and organizations (public and private operators such as communes, cooperatives, civil society, universities, etc.) to facilitate the implementation of the project. B.3. Expected project results aligned with the GCF investment criteria (max. 1 page)

5 The World Bank and other donors are particularly active on this issue, lessons could be learnt from their different experiences. Considering the cocoa sector is still in its emerging in Liberia, the project has an opportunity to promote sustainable forest practices before negative ones are adopted by the targeted farmers.


Please describe and provide an estimate of the expected impacts aligned with the GCF investment criteria: paradigm shift, sustainable development, needs of recipients, country ownership, and efficiency and effectiveness. The following table presents the expected project’s impacts alignment with the GCF investment criteria.

Criterion Indicative assessment factor Project’s contribution Impact potential: Mitigation

Expected tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2eq) to be reduced or avoided

Estimated at 955 ktCO2eq

Expected increase in the number of households with access to low-emission energy

8,000 households will be targeted by the TCEPII project. Seven cocoa cooperatives and 400 Farmers Field Schools (FFS) will be trained and equipped to transform cocoa wastes (pods, husks, pruning wastes) in charcoal briquettes.

Expected improvement in the management of land or forest areas contributing to emission reductions

The TCEPII project targets 10,000ha, assuming an 80% adoption rate of the new practices proposed by the farmers; it is expected that 6000ha of secondary forests will be under protection as well as 2000ha of plantation under improvement land management.

Impact potential: Adaptation

Expected total number of direct and indirect beneficiaries, number of beneficiaries relative to total population, particularly the most vulnerable groups

8,000 households will be targeted by the TCEPII project. In the pilot phase 2 cooperatives will be equipped with cocoa dry storage systems, until the system is extended to all cooperatives of the project.

Degree to which the activity avoids lock-in of long-lived, climate-vulnerable infrastructure

Thanks to the GCF additional support, roads built under the TCEPII project will be climate-proofed to endure the increasing frequency and intensity of precipitation extremes. In total, 140 km of feeder roads and 300km of farm tracks will be proofed.

Expected strengthening of adaptive capacity and reduced exposure to climate risks

By improving tree shading and assuming an 80% adoption rate of the new cultural practices, about 8,000ha of cocoa plantation will be able to withstand more severe droughts and temperature extremes.

Paradigm shift potential

A theory of change for replication of the proposed activities in the project/programme in other sectors, institutions, geographical areas or regions, communities or countries.

By addressing both adaptation and mitigation in the context of country’s economic development, the project intends to serve as an example of transformation in the cocoa sector for the rest of the West and Central African countries to transition to more sustainable forest management practices and adapting cocoa value chains to climate change while facilitating market access.

Sustainable development potential

Degree to which the project or programme promotes positive environmental externalities such as air quality, soil quality, conservation, biodiversity, etc.

Through shading, improved forest management practices, the project contributes to the conservation of soil quality as well as forest biodiversity. It also contributes to reduce child labor in the charcoal sector by using cocoa wastes.

Needs of recipients

Intensity of exposure to climate risks and the degree of vulnerability, including exposure to slow onset events.

By improving tree shading and assuming an 80% adoption rate of the new cultural practices, about 8,000ha of cocoa plantation will be able to withstand more severe droughts and temperature extremes.

Explanation of the existing barriers that create absence of alternative sources of financing and how they will be addressed.

Financial services, particularly credit, are limited in the cocoa sector in Liberia hence hindering the ability of farmers to invest in cocoa waste transformation. In addition, these practices are still new in Liberia and bear significant risk limiting banking sector's willingness to lend.

Country ownership

Degree to which the activity is supported by a country’s enabling policy and institutional framework, or includes policy or institutional changes.

The project is fully aligned with the objectives of Liberia’s Agenda for Transformation: Step Towards Liberia Rising 2030. The project is consistent with the objectives of the National Forest Regulations, Acts and Policies (2003, 2006, 2007, 2011, 2015), the Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC, 2015), agricultural policies and investment plans.

Proposal has been developed in consultation with civil society groups and other relevant stakeholders

The TCEPII project and proposal have been developed in partnership between the GoL and IFAD. Local communities, cooperatives, farmers were consulted all along the proposal process.

Efficiency and Effectiveness

Estimated cost per tCO2eq as defined as total investment cost/expected lifetime emission reductions, and relative to comparable opportunities

USD12.5 tCO2eq, only for the forest protection. It excludes the cocoa wastes transformation activity.

Co-financing ratio Estimated at GCF’s USD1 for IFAD-GoL’s USD4.9.

C. Indicative financing / Cost information (max. 2 pages) C.1. Financing by components (max ½ page) Please provide an estimate of the total cost per component and disaggregate by source of financing.

Component Indicative cost (USD)

GCF financing Co-financing Amount (USD)

Financial Instrument

Amount (USD)

Financial Instrument

Name of Institutions

Sustainable revitalization of cocoa production

7.7 1.7 Grant 6.0 million Concessional loan + grant

IFAD


Climate-proofing, rehabilitation and maintenance of roads


IFAD

Service provision for value-chain development


IFAD

Project management 8.5 0.5 Grant 8.0 million Concessional loan + grant

IFAD

Indicative total cost (USD)


IFAD

For private sector proposal, provide an overview (diagram) of the proposed financing structure.

C.2. Justification of GCF involvement (max 1/2 page) Explain why the Project/ Programme requires GCF funding, i.e. explaining why this is not financed by the public and/ or private sector(s) of the country. - New and innovative activities: The project intends to implement activities with a large innovation component. The innovativeness of the proposed activities can lead to increased risk, which is characterised by several aspects: (1) the producers’ and value-chain actors’ uptake of the new technologies and practices (cocoa waste transformation, dry storage during the wet season) is not ensured at this stage; (2) the project serves as a pilot of the under-development REDD+ strategy, this activity – particularly results-based payment – is still very new and adjustments will have to be performed throughout the project. - High investment costs for potentially limited returns: Owing to government's limited fiscal space and pressing development needs induced by the post-conflict and post-Ebola outbreak conditions, the interest and ability of the government to invest in adaptation and disaster risk management measures are limited. Indeed, depending on how climate change and variability influence weather extremes during the timeframe of the project and its capitalisation period the adaptive and proofing investments might have limited returns; - High transformational potential: By its focus on both adaptation (tree shading, road climate-proofing) and mitigation (cocoa waste transformation, results-based payments for forest protection) and alignment with Liberia's development priorities, the project bears large transformational potential and could be showcased as an example in cocoa producing countries of the region. C.3. Sustainability and replicability of the project (exit strategy) (max. 1/2 page) Please explain how the project/programme sustainability will be ensured in the long run and how this will be monitored, after the project/programme is implemented with support from the GCF and other sources. The proposed activities and components are all intended to develop or foster viable economic activities, in order to ensure the project's long-term sustainability. This is particularly the case for the cocoa wastes' transformation activities as well the improved plantation and forest management trainings, which are intended to support the ecological sustainability of the cocoa production in these regions. In collaboration with the government, IFAD in collaboration with the government will explore: (1) avenues to allocate resources to road maintenance and construction that integrate climate risks over the long-term; and (2) national and international options to provide long-term financial support to the results-based payment scheme as well as its extension to other regions of the countries. Owing to IFAD’s investments in the cocoa producing countries in the region (Ghana, Cameroon, Côte d'Ivoire, Sao Tomé e Principe) the success of the project could also serve as an information basis and best practices within the West and Central African region for IFAD's portfolio. Remote sensing calibrated by field survey will be used to assess the performance of the project to limit deforestation and degradation. Furthermore, monitoring and evaluation of the project will be ensured by IFAD-GoL project's Country Management Unit, which already hosts an IFAD-trained and supported M&E officers. To facilitate the M&E of this project, three additional results-based payment officers, also in charge of M&E will be recruited.

C.4 Stakeholders engagement in the project or programme (max ½ page) Please describe how engagement among the NDA, AE, EE and/or other relevant stakeholders in the country has taken place so far and what further engagement will be undertaken as the concept is developed into a funding proposal. As per IFAD approach, the government of Liberia was consulted during all the design of the new IFAD-GoL’s project, the baseline investment. During this process, consultations on the climate change adaptation and mitigation part of the project were conducted. The activities proposed in this concept note are now fully integrated in IFAD-GoL’s baseline investment in order to improve the mainstreaming of climate change in development investments. Further consultations will be conducted in the development of the full proposal.


C.5 Monitoring and Evaluation and reporting plans (max ¼ page) Please explain how the M&E will be conducted as part of the project or programme (routine and concurrent monitoring, interim and final evaluations, and annual reports) The reporting and M&E frameworks will be aligned with TCEP-II's framework and IFAD ORMS M&E system. Owing to the particularity of the activities planned in this project, remote sensing calibrated with field survey will be used to assess the performance of the project to limit deforestation and degradation. Furthermore, monitoring and evaluation of the project will be ensured by IFAD-GoL project's Country Management Unit, which already hosts an IFAD-trained and supported M&E officers. To facilitate the M&E of this project, three additional results-based payment officers, also in charge of M&E will be recruited. The monitoring of the results of the project will also contribute to inform GoL on its progress made towards the achievement of its NDC.

D. Annexes ☒ ESS screening check list (Annex 1) ☒ Project's multi-criteria analysis ☒ Map indicating the location of the project/programme (as applicable) ☐ Evaluation Report of previous project (as applicable)


Annex 1: Environmental and Social Screening Checklist Part A: Risk Factors The questions describe the “risk factors” of activities that would require additional assessments and information. Any “Yes” response to the questions will render the proposal not eligible for the Simplified Approval Process Pilot Scheme. Proposals with any of the risk factors may be considered under the regular project approvals process instead.

Exclusion criteria YES NO Will the activities involve associated facilities and require further due diligence of such associated facilities?

☐ ☒

Will the activities involve trans-boundary impacts including those that would require further due diligence and notification to downstream riparian states?

☐ ☒

Will the activities adversely affect working conditions and health and safety of workers or potentially employ vulnerable categories of workers including women, child labor?

☐ ☒

Will the activities potentially generate hazardous waste and pollutants including pesticides and contaminate lands that would require further studies on management, minimization and control and compliance to the country and applicable international environmental quality standards?

☐ ☒

Will the activities involve the construction, maintenance, and rehabilitation of critical infrastructure (like dams, water impoundments, coastal and river bank infrastructure) that would require further technical assessment and safety studies?

☐ ☒

Will the proposed activities potentially involve resettlement and dispossession, land acquisition, and economic displacement of persons and communities?

☐ ☒

Will the activities be located in protected areas and areas of ecological significance including critical habitats, key biodiversity areas and internationally recognized conservation sites?

☐ ☒

Will the activities affect indigenous peoples that would require further due diligence, free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) and documentation of development plans?

☐ ☒

Will the activities be located in areas that are considered to have archaeological (prehistoric), paleontological, historical, cultural, artistic, and religious values or contains features considered as critical cultural heritage?

☐ ☒

Part B: Specific environmental and social risks and impacts Assessment and Management of Environmental and Social Risks and Impacts YES NO TBD

Has the AE provided the E&S risk category of the project in the concept note?

☒ ☐ ☐

Has the AE provided the rationale for the categorization of the project in the relevant sections of the concept note or funding proposal?

☒ ☐ ☐

Is there any additional requirement required by the country?

☐ ☐ ☐

Are the identification of risks and impacts based on recent or up-to-date information?

☒ ☐ ☐

Labour and Working Conditions YES NO TBD Will the proposed activities expected to have impacts on the working conditions, particularly the terms of employment, worker’s organization, non-discrimination, equal opportunity, child labour, and

☐ ☒ ☐


forced labour of direct, contracted and third-party workers? Will the proposed activities pose occupational health and safety risks to workers including supply chain workers?

☐ ☒ ☐

Resource Efficiency and Pollution Prevention YES NO TBD Will the activities expected to generate (1) emissions to air; (2) discharges to water; (3) activity-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emission; and (5) waste?

☐ ☒ ☐

Will the activities expected to utilize natural resources including water and energy?

☐ ☒ ☐

Will there be a need to develop detailed measures to reduce pollution and promote sustainable use of resources?

☐ ☒ ☐

Community Health, Safety, and Security YES NO TBD Will the activities potentially generate risks and impacts to the health and safety of the affected communities?

☐ ☒ ☐

Will there a need for an emergency preparedness and response plan that also outlines how the affected communities will be assisted in times of emergency?

☐ ☒ ☐

Will there be risks posed by the security arrangements and potential conflicts at the project site to the workers and affected community?

☐ ☒ ☐

Land Acquisition and Involuntary Resettlement YES NO TBD Will the activities likely involve voluntary transactions under willing buyer-willing-seller conditions and has these been properly communicated and consulted?

☒ ☐ ☐

Biodiversity Conservation and Sustainable Management of Living Natural Resources YES NO TBD

Will the activities likely introduce invasive alien species of flora and fauna affecting the biodiversity of the area?

☐ ☒ ☐

Will the activities have potential impacts on or dependent on ecosystem services including production of living natural resources?

☐ ☒ ☐

Indigenous Peoples YES NO TBD Will the activities likely to have indirect impacts on indigenous peoples?

☐ ☒ ☐

Will continuing stakeholder engagement process and grievance redress mechanism be integrated into the management / implementation plans?

☒ ☐ ☐

Cultural Heritage YES NO TBD Will the activity allow continuous access to the cultural heritage sites and properties?

☒ ☐ ☐

Will there be a need to prepare a procedure in case of discovery of cultural heritage assets?

☐ ☒ ☐

Sign-off: Specify the name of the person responsible for the environmental and social screening and any other approvals as may be required in the accredited entity’s own management system.


Figure 3 - Multi-criteria analysis of potential adaptation and mitigation options and ranking following a set of criteria commonly used in MCA. These activities are ranked according to the following set of indicators: (1) the urgency of the impact; (2) the cost of the measure; (3) the benefits of the measure for women and vulnerable groups; and (4) the overall weighted sum of the measure. Source: based on Schroth et al., (2016) for the identified measures.


Documents

Resilient and Low Carbon Tree Crop Extension Project II · project also intends to reduce fuelwood-induced deforestation The TCEP II project is planned to address the main obstacles