• Fifteen West and Central African countries meet in Aného to review projects funded by the Green Climate Fund and the Global Environment Facility.
• FAO warns that no country in the region has fully used its allocated climate-finance resources.
• The workshop aims to validate a regional agro-pastoral resilience project and strengthen access to international climate funds.

Togo gathers fifteen West and Central African countries in the city of Aného, located 40 km east of Lomé, for a six-day technical review of their climate-finance projects. Delegations opened discussions on Tuesday, November 25, 2025, to assess initiatives funded by vertical climate funds, mainly the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the Global Environment Facility (GEF).

The FAO organized the workshop to help countries improve access to these funding mechanisms and to strengthen the efficiency of climate investments already underway.

National representatives review their performance, identify bottlenecks and draft proposals to optimize climate-finance management. According to Dr. Zohende Henri-Noël Bouda, Forestry Officer for West Africa, the region faces a persistent paradox. “No country has fully utilised the allocations set aside for it. The resources exist, but the challenge is knowing how to access them. Our role is to provide technical support to countries so that they can mobilise these funds and structure their programmes.”

The meeting proceeds under the supervision of Togo’s Environment Ministry. Minister Prof. Dodzi Kokoroko stresses the need to align international funding with domestic financial commitments. "Vertical funds will only have an impact if horizontal funds, which reflect the will of our States, are in place. Climate action must be based on this articulation."

Participants focus heavily on agro-pastoral resilience, a central issue in a region where climate change weakens livestock systems and rural production. Countries plan to validate a regional agro-pastoral resilience project at the end of the workshop with the goal of improving adaptation for local communities, herders and smallholder farmers.

The FAO has led several vertical-fund programmes in Togo since 2020. These projects include sustainable mangrove management in the Maritime region, community-forest restoration, fragile-ecosystem protection and income-generating activities that strengthen climate adaptation for rural households.

Diwa Oyetunde, Programme Officer at FAO Togo, outlines the results achieved so far. "We have reached nearly 38,000 students through awareness-raising activities. We have supported more than 300 women in snail farming, assisted beekeeping groups and supported adaptation activities on the island of Aného. The aim is to integrate environmental protection into agricultural and community practices. "

Access to vertical funds remains a major challenge for African countries due to technical requirements, complex procedures and limited national capacities. The Aného workshop seeks to close this gap by strengthening expertise and improving the structuring of project proposals.

The FAO considers this effort crucial because climate-finance access determines the region’s ability to address the escalating effects of climate change on agriculture, forestry and pastoral resources. The UN agency notes that resources exist but warns that effective mobilisation depends on stronger institutional coordination and consistent planning.

The final report expected at the end of the workshop will guide future funding requests and support the implementation of national adaptation strategies.

This article was initially published in French by Ayi Renaud Dossavi 

Adapted in English by Ange Jason Quenum