1. An abstract of the Rockefeller Foundation supported Project under the Climate Smart for Rural
Development Initiative
Project Title: Making Carbon Finance for Sustainable Agriculture Work for the Poor
Grant number: 2010 CPR 202
Name of the Organization: CARE INTERNATIONAL
Country: KENYA
Name of the Contact Person: Phillip Franks/Geoffrey Onyango
Email: pfranks@careclimatechange.org/gonyango@careclimatechange.org
Telephone:
Key Objectives
The primary objective for the first phase of the program is learning how carbon finance can be made to
work for the poor. Specifically, how carbon finance can be used to enhance farm production, and thus
food security, and build livelihood and farming system resilience to climate change, while at the same
time deliver on climate mitigation goals. Within the constraints of financial viability, the “pro-poor”
approach that will be developed by the initiative aims to ensure effective participation of poorer
marginalised groups, particularly women in the carbon project. For example, the project is developing a
“fair trade approach” to carbon, and hopes to apply this alongside other innovative approaches to counter
barriers to the participation of these marginalised groups.
Key Activities
The first phase of this project focuses on the carbon project design, and pilot-scale project
implementation (i.e. engaging 500 farmers). This first phase is also developing the project support
activities necessary for scaling-up of the activities and for meeting the equity considerations.
Key Deliverables
At the heart of the initiative is a strong learning agenda which will ensure that knowledge generated by
the initiative and lessons learnt are captured and used to support adaptive management during Phase 1,
inform the design of Phase 2, and achieve a wider impact through informing ongoing policy processes at
national, regional and global levels. To strongly reinforce this aspect, the initiative has been designed,
and will be implemented, in partnership with the new Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security
(CCAFS) program of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR).
Establishing partnerships with government institutions at national and local levels as well as relevant civil
society organisations and private sector actors is a priority to ensure a strong and sustainable institutional
home.
Expected Outcomes
The main output of this first stage is a Project Design Document (PDD) that is validated under the Verified
Carbon Standard (VCS) and the Climate, Community and Biodiversity Standard (CCBS) and that has
been implemented in two separate areas. This will include development of a monitoring, reporting and
verification (MRV) framework. It will also involve an assessment of the institutional capacity and
requirements for assimilating and distributing carbon benefits. Various options for financing the project
are also being considered as part of this phase. Note that this first phase aims to engage 500 farmers in
two separate areas. It is likely that communities in the two areas may develop different approaches to
number key issues, e.g. benefit sharing. This will enable comparisons to be made between the two areas
and may inform learning and help guide the design of appropriate management and governance
structures in the future. This learning will be critical to inform management of the project as it is scaled up.