UNDP and Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities Co. Ltd. have announced F3-Life as the winner of the US$ 10,000 Climate Change Finance Innovation Award.The contest aims at addressing the urgent need for innovative financing concepts, for scaled-up mitigation actions, leading to increased private and public investments in developing countries, and assisting them in achieving sustainable, low carbon, green growth.

JKUAT and ICRAF Researchers taking downstream water quality measurements in a heavily sedimented stream in Sasumua. Photo: J.K Mwangi

F3 Life is for a profit company in partnership with ICRAF (PRESA), piloting a conditional low-interest microfinance approach with farmers in Sasumua watershed as an incentive to plant grass strips to reduce soil erosion and maintain agricultural yields. Their unique green loans scheme has been able to enact behavior change among smallholder farmers by linking credit limits and interest rates, to the quality of natural resource management practices adopted by the farmers.

Mark Ellis-Jones, receiving the award on behalf of F3-Life stated, “We have applied for this award in order to research and assess the possibility to include additional measures which will help to improve soil conservation. We promote climate-smart agriculture production systems that sustainably increases productivity, adaptation and removes greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.”

With more than 500 million smallholder farms globally, there is a huge potential to support sustainable farming, field and livestock management. F3-Life  is expected to reach out to more than 300 farmers in Kenya’s Southern Aberdares region in 2015, and is planning to scale-up throughout high potential agricultural areas in East and Southern Kenya.

Read further on the award:

UNDP, Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley announce winner of Climate Change Finance Innovation Award

Climate finace options: Climate Change Finance Innovation Award