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Environmental Investment Fund allocates grants

Recipients of various projects that received funding from the Environmental Investment Fund (Photograph by Victoria Ashipala)

Recipients of various projects that received funding from the Environmental Investment Fund (Photograph by Victoria Ashipala)

The Environmental Investment Fund of Namibia celebrated its first anniversary on Wednesday, 13 February and handed out grants worth N$ 4.1 million to 11 projects.
In 2012, the Fund awarded N$ 7.4 million in grants to 18 environmental sustainable projects that address issues of food security, climate change, livelihood improvement , human-wildlife conflict mitigation, water management, recycling and waste management as well as research.
About 3200 community members have benefited from the grants with at least 138 people employed on the supported projects. One of the highlights of the Fund is when the Ezystove, a recipient of the Environmental Investment Fund, was awarded a prestigious award in December 2012 at the United Nations Framework Work on Climate Change Secretariat for its efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions and climate change adaptation.
The Fund also managed to produce its Strategic Business Plan to describe its strategic focus during the next five years. Furthermore, the fund also developed different financing and disbursement products that it intends to implement in the 20013 financial year. This includes concessionary loans to support environmentally friendly enterprises, interest rate subsidies on green credits as well as guarantee schemes.
The 2013 grants recipients are  Uukolonkadhi Community Forest, RMZ Consultancy and Business cc, Eco Awards Namibia , Polytechnic of Namibia, Gobabeb Research and Training Centre,  Olushadja Livestock Marketing Committee, Salambala Conservancy, Lusepani Beekeeping Farm, Caprivi Chili Farmers Association, Desert Research, Foundation of Namibia (REEDS Group) and MK Research and Development cc.
Launched in 2012 by His Excellency President Hifikepunye Pohamba, the The Environmental Investment Fund of Namibia was established through an Act of Parliament in 2001 with the aim to provide a sustainable source of funding to support environmentally sound development in the country and do so in a manner that complements programmes and actions of both the public and private sectors.

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