From the ground in Chad: what Climate Adaptation truly looks like.

Amb Seyni Nafo had the privilege of visiting Zara Agro-Chad (ZAT) in the Hadjer-Lamis province, about 86 km northwest of N'Djamena, alongside Mafalda Duarte the Executive Director of the Green Climate Fund. What they saw reinforced something that AAI have long believed: the most powerful climate solutions are the ones already being built by communities, cooperatives, and entrepreneurs with their feet in the soil.

ZAT is a cooperative doing remarkable work at one of the most critical climate frontlines on the continent, the transition zone between the Congo Basin and the Sahel-Saharan belt, where desertification is not a distant threat but an advancing reality. On 500 hectares of land (with access to 15,000 more), they are piloting solar-powered drip irrigation, greenhouse farming, biochar and compost systems that sequester carbon while boosting soil fertility, and sustainable spirulina production, all designed to feed both local communities and export markets.

This is what "For Africa, By Africa" looks like in practice.

But the visit was about more than admiration. It was about smart, sequenced finance.

The UN Joint SDG Fund is providing a catalytic grant of $1.5M seed funding to prove these technologies work at scale and de-risk the model. This creates the evidence base and track record that unlocks the next level: Green Climate Fund investment to scale what works across Chad and the wider Sahel.

It is a powerful model. A pooled UN fund goes first validating, learning, absorbing early risk. GCF comes in to scale impact. Together, they tackle food insecurity, rural poverty, and climate vulnerability in one integrated intervention.

ZAT is also in discussion with the AAI Food Security Accelerator for a $2M equity investment as a first growth phase, expanding into high-value local products like dried mangoes, spirulina, dried fish, and clarified butter for regional and global markets.

And beyond the farm: ZAT plans to establish a Regional Agricultural Training Center, in partnership with GCF and Chadian ministries, to disseminate these climate-resilient solutions across the Sahel. Because proving it works is only step one. Spreading it is the mission.

This is what climate finance for Africa must look like: catalytic, sequenced, grounded in local ownership, and built to scale.

More to come. 🌱

Listen to the interviews recorded for the occasion
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/from-ground-chad-what-climate-adaptation-eepif