As mentioned in a previous article, SETIN was contracted to draft the Project Preparation Grant (PPG) of the “Transforming productivity in Palau’s food systems through nature positive innovations project for the Republic of Palau” GEF Child Project, with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as the GEF Agency. This Child Project is developed under the GEF funded Blue and Green Islands Integrated Program (BGI IP).
In Palau, unsustainable practices in food systems prevail, and there is also insufficient financial investment, innovation and incentives to transform priority food systems via nature-friendly means. This is amplified by deep-seated preference for imported and processed foods among the local population and private operators. Therefore, biologically rich, high-diversity land and rich coastal areas are under the risk to be respectively transformed into low productivity and/or unsustainable farming and polluted coastal zones, leading to increased degradation.
The “Transforming productivity in Palau’s food systems through nature positive innovations” Project, thanks also to the BGI-IP, will assist Palau to ensure that Nature-based Solutions (NbS) and environmental sustainability is integrated into its sustainable food systems strategy – the 2021 Pathways to Sustainable Food Systems. The project’s objective is to transform Palau’s food systems by facilitating nature-positive development, reducing ecosystem degradation by valuing nature and applying NbS to the agriculture and aquaculture sectors.
SETIN successfully delivered the first full early draft of the BGI IP Palau child project’s ProDoc and annexures on March 25th.