Nature-Based Solutions for a Climate Resilient Sub-Saharan Africa

Sub-Saharan Africa is disproportionately impacted by climate change, despite being one of the least contributors to the problem.

Communities in certain regions are currently facing extended periods of drought, leading to famine that affects millions and forcing many to become climate refugees. While sub-Saharan Africa grapples with these severe drought conditions, countries like Nigeria are experiencing catastrophic flooding.

This situation is exacerbated by the loss of half of their wetlands, which previously played a critical role in managing floodwaters.

Nature-based solutions on the rise

The good news is that communities in Africa are increasingly turning to nature-based solutions to mitigate climate risks.

A new report from the WRI, World Bank, and African Development Bank spotlights nature-based projects in Sub-Saharan Africa. The report notes that these nature-based solutions are gaining momentum in the region, reaching nearly 300 projects between 2012 and 2023. Between 2012 and 2021, it secured over $21 billion in funding. New projects have grown steadily by an average of 15% annually.

These natural systems can build resilience against hazards such as flooding, heat, or drought, as well as the effects of climate change that the regions are contending with. Most importantly, these nature-based solutions often bring co-benefits to communities, such as creating jobs, boosting farm yields, increasing incomes, and protecting biodiversity, among others.

The 2025 report, “Growing resilience Unlocking the potential of nature-based solutions for climate resilience in sub-Saharan Africa,” analysed 300 nature-based solutions in Sub-Saharan Africa over the last decade to determine the progress made and what is needed to scale implementation and investments.

The 100-page report reviews the historical and anticipated climate challenges facing Sub-Saharan Africa. It provides context for these issues by analysing nature-based projects from 2012 to 2023, including insights gathered through interviews with project developers, funders, and investors.

The findings highlight investment barriers and the challenges in implementing nature-based solutions (NBS). The report concludes with recommendations for governments and organisations on how to enhance the adoption of NBS in the region.

Key findings and recommendations from the report

The following are the report’s highlights:

• As sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) faces increasing climate vulnerability and a rapidly growing population, nature-based solutions (NBS) can help the region build climate resilience, meet its infrastructure gap, and protect the livelihoods of its population.
• This report identifies 297 NBS projects initiated between 2012 and 2023 that used NBS as an alternative to or in combination with traditional grey infrastructure for climate resilience objectives. Most projects were designed to meet multiple objectives, most commonly water quality improvements, water supply enhancements, flood mitigation, and erosion and landslide control.
• National governments drove project development, which was funded by multilateral development banks, international donors and funds, as well as domestic budgets.
• While these projects collectively secured over $21 billion in funding, this figure represents only a fraction of the climate adaptation finance needed to address SSA’s vulnerabilities.
• Project developers can enhance access to funding for NBS by leveraging infrastructure finance, highlighting the benefits of nature and resilience to attract biodiversity and climate finance, and increasing domestic budgets through dedicated funding mechanisms.
• Advancing NBS can be enabled by integrating NBS into policies and planning frameworks, improving early project preparation and technical capacity, better quantifying and tracking the benefits of NBS, and ensuring projects are responsive to community needs.

Access the report, “Growing resilience: Unlocking the potential of nature-based solutions for climate resilience in sub-Saharan Africa”, by clicking the link in the “Sources” section.