RE-GAIN: Scaling solutions for food loss in Africa Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia

The RE-GAIN programme is a 5-year initiative designed to strengthen food security and climate resilience in seven African countries by scaling the adoption of Food Loss-Reduction Solutions (FL-RS). The programme addresses climate hazards—such as extreme heat, erratic rainfall, and flooding—that cause grain shattering, rotting, and mycotoxin contamination. It employs a three-pronged strategy: increasing farmer demand through awareness and training, enhancing supply and affordability via MSME business development and innovative financial models (including 'smart-subsidies'), and creating an enabling environment through policy reform. The project targets 2.63 million direct beneficiaries and expects to reduce GHG emissions by 111,275 tCO2e over 10 years.

• The RE-GAIN programme targets seven African countries: Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia, focusing on reducing post-harvest food losses caused by climate change.
• Climate hazards such as erratic rainfall, extreme heat, and flooding lead to specific post-harvest risks, including grain shattering, rotting, mold, and aflatoxin contamination.
• The programme requests a total GCF grant of 75,623,754 USD, with an additional 29.38 million USD in co-financing from AGRA, bringing the total financing to 105 million USD.
• The project aims to reach 2,632,553 direct beneficiaries and 2,735,621 indirect beneficiaries across the target countries.
• The programme's first pathway focuses on demand by training approximately 1.1 million farmers and 5,350 Village Based Advisors (VBAs) on the use of FL-RS and weather information.
• The second pathway enhances supply and affordability by supporting at least 2,000 MSMEs and cooperatives to provide FL-RS services, prioritizing women- and youth-led initiatives.
• Two innovative financial models are proposed: Model 1 uses 'smart-subsidies' (conditional procurements) to reduce costs for smallholders, and Model 2 uses GCF co-payments (averaging 30%) to help youth groups and MSMEs acquire higher-value equipment via loans.
• The third pathway focuses on the enabling environment, aiming to develop 14 gender and youth-responsive policies (two per country) and provide technical support to national institutions.
• The programme expects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by an estimated 111,275 tCO2e over a 10-year lifespan by reducing wasted food and avoiding compensatory agricultural expansion.
• Economic analysis indicates the programme is cost-beneficial, with an estimated Economic Net Present Value (ENPV) of 69 million USD and a benefit-to-cost ratio of 8:1.
• The programme identifies a 'hidden food loss' in grain refining and will provide technical assistance to millers to shift toward whole-grain flour production, which can produce nearly 50% more bread from the same quantity of wheat.

APA

Green Climate Fund (2025). RE-GAIN: Scaling solutions for food loss in Africa Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia. https://www.greenclimate.fund/sites/default/files/document/fp257.pdf

Chicago

Green Climate Fund. RE-GAIN: Scaling solutions for food loss in Africa Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia. 2025. https://www.greenclimate.fund/sites/default/files/document/fp257.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Green Climate Fund |title=RE-GAIN: Scaling solutions for food loss in Africa Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia |date=12 March 2025 |url=https://www.greenclimate.fund/sites/default/files/document/fp257.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{greenclimatefund2025regain, author = {{Green Climate Fund}}, title = {{RE-GAIN: Scaling solutions for food loss in Africa Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia}}, institution = {Green Climate Fund}, year = {2025}, month = mar, url = {https://www.greenclimate.fund/sites/default/files/document/fp257.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }