Climate change continues to expose Kenya’s development systems to severe risks. Droughts, floods, and shifting rainfall patterns disrupt food production, water access, and public health. For Kenya to protect its people and economy, adaptation is no longer optional, it is urgent. Yet accessing international climate finance remains a hurdle. Kenya, like many African countries, stands to benefit from improving its technical capacity to craft winning proposals that meet complex donor expectations. To bridge this gap, the AGNES launched the SCACAF initiative—Strengthening Capacity of African Countries in Accessing Climate Finance.
What the First Session Achieved
Late last year, Kenya’s selected team of national experts gathered in Nairobi for a hands-on training. These experts included government officials, researchers, private sector professionals, and civil society actors. The session equipped them with foundational skills in climate rationale, theory of change, and proposal budgeting. Together with technical facilitators from AGNES, they crafted six concept notes addressing key adaptation themes—from resilient food systems to gender-inclusive climate action. As a follow up to the initial session, the AGNES and the Africa Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) is organizing a second Trainers of Trainers working session
The Second SCACAF Kenya Session
Taking place from 3rd to 5th June 2025, Nairobi, this working retreat will focus on refining and finalizing the six project concept notes. This session is designed to be a results-driven retreat where ideas are turned into actionable, investable projects. The sessions will also deepen participants’ skills in monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL), budget design, and strategies for sustainability, scalability, and replication.
Objectives of the Working Session
The objectives of the working session are to:
- Review, Refine and Finalize the Project Concept Notes
- Provide additional training on Project Budgeting, Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning (MEL) and Project Sustainability and Scalability.
- Develop a strategy identifying and leveraging diverse funding opportunities to unlock funding for the project pipeline
Why This Matters Now
The urgency for climate finance is not just a national priority—it’s a continental imperative. The 2024 Adaptation Gap Report confirms the widening finance gap, which hinders progress despite strong policy frameworks like Kenya’s National Adaptation Plan (NAP). SCACAF offers a strategic action-oriented solution. It empowers national experts with skills to craft bankable project proposals that can unlock climate finance to fund adaptation.