Flagship programme · Economic Justice & Climate
Climate justice starts with women.
African women are already the continent’s most experienced climate adapters. RFLD’s Climate Justice Programme puts resources, information and infrastructure behind their leadership, and carries their experience to the AU and the COP.
Our strengths
What the programme already delivers.
Four pillars that work together, from the village to the negotiating table.
Adaptation.
Member organisations and grassroots feminist groups lead community adaptation, from drought-resilient farming to early-warning information.
Rapid climate finance.
The WAFF Fund’s climate window gets flexible, locally led finance to grassroots organisations in days.
COP & AU advocacy.
African women’s climate experience carried into UNFCCC, African Union and ECOWAS negotiations.
Youth leadership.
Mentorship that links young women climate activists with experienced defenders and continental spaces.
Opportunities
Where the momentum is.
The legal mandate exists.
Maputo Protocol Article 18 guarantees women’s right to a healthy and sustainable environment, and Article 19 their participation in sustainable development. Agenda 2063 and the UNFCCC Gender Action Plan add a continental and global frame.
Locally led adaptation works better.
Adaptation designed by the women living through the change fits local conditions and lasts, because communities own it.
Loss & Damage finance is taking shape.
New funding mechanisms are being designed now. RFLD advocates for direct access by women’s grassroots organisations, so the money reaches communities already past adaptation limits.
The youngest continent is organising.
Young African women are the most digitally fluent generation the continent has produced, and many already lead climate campaigns.
Pillar one · Adaptation
Adaptation led by the women already doing it.
Women adjust planting calendars when rains shift and change cooking fuels when forests recede. We support the organisations they lead with information, peer learning and resources.
Climate-resilient agriculture
Women work most of Africa’s small farms. We back member organisations that keep them producing as seasons shift, using agroecology rooted in local knowledge.
- Drought-resilient sorghum, millet and traditional crops
- Agroecology that builds soil health
- Community seed banks and farmer-led seed exchange
- Rainwater harvesting and small-scale irrigation
- Women smallholders included in climate-smart extension services
Information & early warning
Women who know what is coming can prepare. We make sure forecasts and warnings reach the women whose decisions shape household resilience.
- SMS weather and climate alerts in local languages
- Climate forecasts on community radio, adapted for rural women
- Member networks that relay national early-warning information
- Indigenous adaptation knowledge shared between communities
- Support to turn a forecast into a farming decision
Water, energy & care work
We treat water, energy and fuel as climate justice issues, and we deliver two infrastructure programmes that return time to women and girls.
- Community-managed solar boreholes
- Clean cookstoves and small-scale biogas livelihoods
- Women leading community water committees
- Rural electrification that favours women-led enterprise
- Unpaid care work recognised in adaptation finance
Coastal & ecosystem-based adaptation
Along the West African coast women lead fish processing, salt harvesting and coastal farming. Restoring ecosystems protects both coastlines and their livelihoods.
- Women-led mangrove restoration
- Support for women fish processors
- Women in marine protected-area governance
- Ecosystem-based adaptation as a climate finance priority
- Wetland and watershed restoration with women’s groups
Direct infrastructure
48 solar boreholes, governed by women.
RFLD has directly funded 48 community-managed, solar-powered boreholes across rural francophone West Africa.
- Solar power removes diesel pumps and recurring fuel costs
- Located in village centres, so fetching water is safe and quick
- Management committees with women in the main governance roles
- Maintenance training delivered locally for long-term operation
- Time saved by women and girls tracked as an adaptation outcome
Clean cooking
Cookstoves and biogas as women-led business.
Women’s cooperatives build, maintain and sell fuel-efficient cookstoves and small-scale biogas digesters, turning a health and climate measure into income.
- Cooperative training in manufacture, maintenance and sales
- Biogas digester installation and upkeep
- Local supply chains for materials, parts and after-sales service
- Cleaner air at home for women and children
- Less time collecting fuelwood and less pressure on forests
“A solar borehole in the village centre gives hours back to girls who would otherwise be walking, and to women who would otherwise be carrying. This is what climate adaptation looks like in practice.”
Pillar two · Climate finance
Rapid-response finance through the WAFF Fund.
The WAFF Fund’s climate window moves flexible finance to grassroots feminist organisations in francophone West Africa. RFLD carries the compliance, vetting, audit and reporting, so partners can focus on the work.
What the climate window funds
Flexible by design, because grassroots organisations know what their communities need.
- Climate-resilient agriculture and food sovereignty
- Women-led ecosystem restoration
- Community adaptation planning and early warning
- Local and national climate advocacy
- Rapid response after drought, flood or displacement
Why direct finance works
The most effective adaptation in any African context is the one designed by the women living through it.
- Local knowledge produces adaptation that fits
- Community ownership makes it last
- Gender is built in from the start
- Funds arrive fast when a shock hits
- Unrestricted grants go where need is greatest
Pillar three · Advocacy
From the village to the COP.
Working with African feminist coalitions, RFLD brings women’s lived experience into the negotiating positions that shape climate finance for the continent.
Pillar four · Youth
The next generation of women climate leaders.
Mentorship pathways
Structured links between young activists and the women who have built feminist climate work over decades.
- Young activists paired with experienced defenders in their region
- Cross-country exchanges on adaptation that works
- Francophone and anglophone peer networks
- Access to the AU Youth Forum and COP youth delegations
- Long-term relationships in place of one-off trainings
Civic tech & safe organising
Digital tools for campaigning and accountability, with protection for young women who face online harassment.
- Digital security for young climate activists
- Civic-tech tools tracking environmental violations
- Training in campaign design and social-media advocacy
- Links to RFLD’s work on technology-facilitated GBV
- Resources from the African Digital Safety Compendium
Why it makes an impact
Climate justice is gender justice.
Women run the farms, carry the water and process the fish that climate change affects first. When they hold land, credit and a seat where policy is set, whole communities become more resilient.
That is why the programme works at both ends. We fund the women already adapting, through member organisations and the WAFF Fund, and we push for the laws and finance flows that recognise their work, through Maputo implementation and COP advocacy. The youth pillar makes sure the leaders who will live longest with the climate crisis help shape the response.
If funders invest
What your investment unlocks.
Every pillar is running today. Multi-year funding lets us build more, fund faster and bring more women to the table.
Water infrastructure
48 community-managed solar boreholes funded across francophone West Africa.
More villages reached, with women-led committees and local maintenance built in from day one.
Clean cooking livelihoods
Women’s cooperatives trained to build, maintain and sell cookstoves and biogas digesters.
New cooperatives, stronger supply chains and income for more women operators.
WAFF climate window
Flexible, rapid climate finance for grassroots feminist organisations.
A larger window able to respond within days to drought, floods and displacement.
Advocacy & youth
COP, AU and ECOWAS engagement with feminist coalitions, and a youth mentorship pathway.
Stronger delegations at each COP and multi-year mentorship cohorts of young women leaders.
Climate finance that reaches women’s organisations directly is still rare. A partnership with RFLD puts it where it works best, with the compliance layer funders require already in place.
Engage with this programme
Get in touch.
Confidential channel for safeguarding and integrity concerns: integrity@rflgd.org