Mozambique is highly vulnerable to climate change due to its heavy reliance on climate-sensitive agriculture and frequent exposure to extreme weather events. Rising temperatures, erratic rainfall patterns, prolonged droughts, and increasingly severe cyclones and floods pose significant threats to food security, water resources, and rural livelihoods. Without substantial investments in adaptation, these climate impacts will continue to damage Mozambique’s economy and infrastructure while exacerbating the vulnerability of its population—particularly through heightened exposure to extreme weather events.
To address these challenges, this project integrates social protection with climate adaptation by leveraging Mozambique’s Productive Social Action Programme (PASP) to deliver targeted support to vulnerable communities. The project will include additional PASP-eligible groups highly vulnerable to drought, using community-led Local Adaptation Plans (LAPs) to integrate climate adaptation measures into PASP activities. By combining PASP and LAP approaches under LINK, the initiative aims to tackle chronic food and water insecurity intensified by shocks, structural risks, climate change (e.g., drought), and unemployment, fostering climate resilience and socio-economic stability for households. The project aims to reduce climate risks through by promoting:
- Sthreghtened institutional and community capacity at district and provincial level on climate resilient measures that meet local needs
- Increased gender equality and access to resources
- Priority locally-led adaptation actions and social protection support identified in the LAPs implemented by communities and local governments
- Improved income generation and enhanced local economies
- Improved management of natural resources and land management
- Improved enabling enviroment through CCA mainstreaming into district development planning and budgeting, policy dialogue, disseminations and learning
- Improved community cohesion, health and nutrition
The project will contribute to enhancing the social protection and climate change adaptation of vulnerable communities by improving and reinforcing the capacity of local governmental and nongovernmental actors to identify and implement adaptation measures based on communities’ specific needs. With a better adaptive capacity, the local communities’ exposure to climatic risks will be reduced and resilience will be increased.
Expected outcomes include enhanced stakeholder awareness, updated local adaptation plans, climate-resilient social protection programs, and improved coordination of adaptation efforts. The project will support government and local stakeholders to:
- Update or develop Local Adaptation Plans (LAPs) and integrate them into District Development Plans and District Economic and Social Plans, ensuring alignment with social protection schemes.
- Implement and monitor risk-informed adaptation measures within LAPs.
- Provide adaptive social protection to the most vulnerable households—including female- and child-headed families and those with disabilities—through district-level adaptation activities.
If climate change adaptation is effectively mainstreamed into policy and local capacities are strengthened—particularly for drought-focused, locally led adaptation—then marginalized communities, including women and children in selected rural areas, will achieve greater long-term resilience. The primary beneficiaries include:
- Rural communities most vulnerable to drought and other climate hazards.
- Marginalized groups disproportionately affected by climate shocks, discrimination, and violence.
- By project completion, an estimated 544,499 people (1.7% of Mozambique’s population, 50% women) will directly benefit, while 3.6 million (11% of the population, 50% women) will indirectly benefit from at least one project-supported intervention
LINK’s measures will benefit rural populations by improving food security, creating local employment opportunities, and empowering women and youth. This will result from their improved ability to develop and implement adaptation actions and increased access to adaptive social protection services.
Save the Children, in partnership with the Government of Mozambique, will prioritize 27 vulnerable districts across Gaza, Manica, and Tete provinces for community-based adaptation actions. These efforts will be linked to national Adaptive Social Protection schemes to ensure scalability and replication in other regions. The Green Climate Fund estimates this project has approximately 975.000 thousand beneficiaries, of which 415.000 are direct and 560.000 are indirect.
The Green Climate Fund estimates a U$28,333,800 cost to this project in total:
● U$23.5m grant (82.9%) allocated by the GCF;
● U$ 3,349,714 in-kind financing by the Ministry of Land and Environment;
● U$ 1,171,271 grant by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD);
● U$ 100,000 in-kind financing by the AEROMAP;
● U$ 212,815 grant by Save the Children Italy.
The project will be governed by the following entities:
● Save the Children Australia (SCA) is the Accredited Entity (AE). SCA will be responsible for the GCF proceeds and for the overall quality assurance and oversight of the project. The AE will also support in providing technical support, particularly in relation to the social protection aspects.
● Save the Children Mozambique (SCMOZ) will act as Executing Entity (EE) for most project activities, acting in technical assistance, awareness and capacity building activities. SCMOZ will also ensure the implementation of the transfer of funds to local governments and the monitoring and evaluation activities. SCMOZ will co-chair the PSC.
● MTA/DMC will be co-EE to some activities for which it has proved to have a comparative advantage, such as in leading the LAP process. MTA/DMC will chair the PSC and will be responsible for managing and overseeing the project and its continuation after the project’s implementation period.
● The National Directorate for Monitoring and Evaluation from the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF, the GCF NDA), will co-chair the PSC. MEF will be leading the mechanisms to integrate the LAPs investments into the PESOD, testing and consolidating the means to build a strong link between both planning tools. MEF will also lead the monitoring mechanism around LAP activities implementation in line with the community-based approach.
● INGD (National Institute for Disaster Risk Management and Reduction) will have a key role to ensure the links at the district level between the LAPs and the Adaptive Social Protection approach and other instruments such as the PEBES (school DRM structure) and the District Early Action protocols.
● The MADER will have a seat at the PSC and ensure that activities related to food security and climate resilient agriculture are consistent with national policies and strategies.
● A Project Management Unit (PMU) will be responsible for the execution and implementation of the project. The PMU is the technical-administrative unit for the project. The PMU will be established in Maputo and will coordinate and support project implementation and day-to-day activities during the project lifecycle, in close consultation with the governing structures of the project (PSC). The PMU will be located physically at MTA/DMC but will be under the supervision of SC Mozambique. If considered adequate and transparent, the PMU will use government systems for the procurement processes and operating procedures. The PMU will operate according to the Annual Work Plan approved by the PSC of the project. All the administrative matters of the project: acquisition plan, financial plan, periodic reports, will be approved by the PSC.
At the National level:
A Project Steering Committee (PSC), the highest level of project governance, will strategically guide the overall project implementation and ensure inter-institutional coordination and consistency of the outputs with the strategic framework. The PSC will be comprised of high-level representatives from MTA, MEF, MGCAS, MADER, INGD, and SCMOZ. The MTA/DMC will chair the PSC and SC will act as the Secretariat. PSC key responsibilities will be:
● Together with MTA, review the LAPs’ methodology to ensure the linkages between social protection and climate change adaptation as per national recommendations and practices in the country.
● To ensure that the activities are in line with the national strategies, especially the Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Strategy and the Basic Social Security Strategy – ENSSB (National Strategy for Basic Social Security) that refers to the climate resilience and autonomy of the most vulnerable households.
● Review and provide suggestions on how further scale-up of this project can be achieved after project end, integrating its model into the government’s cyclical planning and budgeting processes.
● Together with MGCAS, inform the development of the Adaptive Social Protection approach, including the influence of the social protection action programs based on the local climate change adaptation planning to achieve ways that assess and identify the adaptation needs of social protection eligible households.
At the provincial level:
Operational units will serve as the key channel of communication between the PMU and the implementing entities and the local governments. The project activities will be coordinated through the operational units which will ensure the smooth running of the project across the different institutions, including the district authorities, consultants, service providers, community associations, NGOs, and other SC partners. The operational units will ensure coordinated planning and action across stakeholders and ensure that children’s voices, perspectives, and opinions are included in the project governance through the children's parliaments at the province level. They will play a crucial role to maintain technical competency and quality and to monitor, evaluate and report project activities. These operational units will be located in INGD offices at the provincial levels. Their responsibilities will be:
● To provide overall governance and technical guidance for the implementation and integration of LAP activities as part of the district development plans;
● To coordinate with other key sectors working with social protection and climate change adaptation;
● To ensure a robust connection to both the district level and the national level;
● To coordinate the various sectors and institutions at the provincial level to ensure the best possible multi-sectorial approach and technical guidance to the project implementation;
● To guide the project progress and possible revision of activities over time;
● To review and endorse the project progress report prepared by the district governments;
● To ensure an institutional approach and consolidated methodology around the development of the Adaptive Social Protection approach;
● To ensure that the activities are in line with the provincial multi-sectorial planning;
● To develop the MEAL framework for the Local Adaptation Plans being implemented and monitor the implementation of activities; and
● To identify existing and required capacities within their province and plan and support the use of resources and the building of capacities in the province and districts.
Mozambique’s National Bureau of Statistics: https://www.ine.gov.mz/en/
Mozambique Climate Data Platform: https://www.mozclimatedata.gov.mz/
Findings: The paper highlights that the Productive Social Action Programme (PASP) promotes public works and productive activities, targeting vulnerable households with an emphasis on female-headed families and those with disabilities or sick members. Its enrolment is limited to three years, with a focus on self-selection mechanisms. The benefit formula aims to support household income with cash transfers linked to work hours. Coverage was initially small but expanded to over 57,000 households by 2016. Challenges include capacity constraints and discussions on benefit formula adjustments for larger households.
Lessons learned from the implementation of Local Adaptation Plans in Mozambique – Traction framework for advancing climate adaptation action, April 2022.
Findings: LAPs have been and continue to be a very useful tool for raising climate change awareness at local levels. These plans have been and continue to be useful for the implementation of adaptation and mitigation projects in Mozambique. Thay are an enabler for adaptation action, as an effective tool for climate change awareness at local level and supporting implementation of adaptation and mitigation projects in Mozambique. Poverty and economic exclusion are severe and affect a very high proportion of people living in rural areas of Mozambique. LAP have been focused on the most climate vulnerable districts and, in some cases, processes have been targeted at the poorer and more vulnerable people in those districts. LAPs are climate vulnerability oriented so, in several cases, local recognition of social and climate vulnerability has been used to prioritise local plans’ actions.
Key Points of the Action Plan:
· Ensure that the gender barriers identified in this GESI Action Plan are overcome to enable sustainable changes in the lives of girls, boys, women and men in the target communities. In particular, the action plan is designed to ensure that all climate adaptation interventions take account of the lived experience of both women and men and that in particular, the voices of marginalised women are heard. We will ensure that we target not only the small number of women who already operate in these community leadership spaces, but the wider communities of women, in particular marginalised women (women with disabilities, younger women, poorer women, etc.)
· Interventions focus on tackling the gender norms and discrimination that dictate that men should be the main decision-makers, and which prevent women from participating in community forums or from being leaders in community-wide actions. These norms and discrimination include high levels of gender-based violence, structural inequalities such as women’s exclusion from community leadership and low levels of women’s self-agency, exclusion of gendered climate related risks, impacts, needs and solutions, and ability to make decisions about their lives.
· Make use of evidence-based interventions to transform power dynamics to build women’s self-confidence, self-awareness, climate knowledge and skills, and to develop their capacity for collective action together with other women and their communities as a whole. Work with husbands, extended family, community and religious leaders and wider community to build support for these changes and to ensure that men and women understand that they are stronger when working together to solve problems and build a better future for their children. Conversations on gender norms, fairness, equitable relationships and mutual support enable everyone to thrive. Creating a cadre of women and men who model new ways of living together and strengthening their climate resilience, enables these changes to take root.
Integration of Social Protection & Climate Adaptation is Critical
· Combining Mozambique’s Productive Social Action Programme (PASP) with Local Adaptation Plans (LAPs) helped align poverty reduction with climate resilience, ensuring vulnerable households receive both immediate support and long-term adaptive capacity.
Decentralized Planning Enhances Local Ownership
· Involving local governments and communities in developing LAPs ensured adaptation measures were context-specific and aligned with district development plans, improving sustainability.
Gender-Inclusive Approaches Strengthen Resilience
· Addressing gender norms and barriers (e.g., women’s leadership in decision-making, access to resources) led to more equitable and effective climate adaptation outcomes.
Multi-Stakeholder Governance Improves Coordination
· A Project Steering Committee (PSC) with representatives from government, NGOs, and local authorities ensured policy alignment and streamlined implementation across sectors.
Community-Led Adaptation Drives Impact
· Participatory planning empowered communities to identify and implement priority adaptation actions, such as climate-resilient agriculture and water management.
Scalability Depends on Institutional Capacity
· Strengthening local government capacity (e.g., disaster risk reduction, social protection integration) was essential for scaling up successful interventions.
Early Warning & Adaptive Social Protection Reduce Vulnerability
· Linking shock-responsive social protection with climate early warning systems helped households anticipate and recover from climate shocks.
Mainstreaming Climate Adaptation into Policy Ensures Long-Term Impact
· Embedding LAPs into national and district planning (e.g., District Development Plans) institutionalized climate resilience beyond the project lifecycle.
https://www.greenclimate.fund/project/sap042#overview
SDG 1: End poverty
- Target 1.5: By 2030, build the resilience of the poor and those in vulnerable situations and reduce their exposure and vulnerability to climate-related extreme events and other economic, social and environmental shocks and disasters
- Indicator 1.5.1: Number of deaths, missing persons and directly affected persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population
- Indicator 1.5.2: Direct economic loss attributed to disasters in relation to global gross domestic product (GDP)
- Indicator 1.5.3: Number of countries that adopt and implement national disaster risk reduction strategies in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030
- Indicator 1.5.4: Proportion of local governments that adopt and implement local disaster risk reduction strategies in line with national disaster risk reduction strategies
- Target 1.a: Ensure significant mobilization of resources from a variety of sources, including through enhanced development cooperation, in order to provide adequate and predictable means for developing countries, in particular least developed countries, to implement programmes and policies to end poverty in all its dimensions
- Indicator 1.a.1: Proportion of domestically generated resources allocated by the government directly to poverty reduction programmes
- Indicator 1.a.2: Proportion of total government spending on essential services (education, health and social protection)
- Indicator 1.a.3: Sum of total grants and non-debt-creating inflows directly allocated to poverty reduction programmes as a proportion of GDP
SDG 2: Zero hunger
- Target 2.1: End hunger and ensure access by all people, in particular the poor and people in vulnerable situations, including infants, to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year round.
- Indicator 2.1.1: Prevalence of undernourishment
- Indicator 2.1.2: Prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity in the population, based on the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES)
- Target 2.4: Ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, that help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other disasters, and that progressively improve land and soil quality.
- Indicator 2.4.1: Proportion of agricultural area under productive and sustainable agriculture
SDG 5: Gender equality
- Target 5.5: Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life.
- Indicator 5.5.1: Proportion of seats held by women in (a) national parliaments and (b) local governments
- Indicator 5.5.2: Proportion of women in managerial positions
- Target 5.a: Undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to ownership and control over land and other forms of property, financial services, inheritance and natural resources, in accordance with national laws.
- Indicator 5.a.1: (a) Proportion of total agricultural population with ownership or secure rights over agricultural land, by sex; and (b) share of women among owners or rights-bearers of agricultural land, by type of tenure
- Indicator 5.a.2: Proportion of countries where the legal framework (including customary law) guarantees women’s equal rights to land ownership and/or control
SDG 8: Decent work and economic growth
- Target 8.5: Achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value.
- Indicator 8.5.1: Average hourly earnings of female and male employees, by occupation, age and persons with disabilities
- Indicator 8.5.2: Unemployment rate, by sex, age and persons with disabilities
SDG 10: Reducing inequalities
- Target 10.2: Empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status.
- Indicator 10.2.1: Proportion of people living below 50 per cent of median income, by sex, age and persons with disabilities
- Target 10.4: Adopt policies, especially fiscal, wage and social protection policies, and progressively achieve greater equality.
- Indicator 10.4.1: Labour share of GDP, comprising wages and social protection transfers
SDG 11: Sustainable cities and communities
- Target 11.5: Significantly reduce the number of deaths and the number of people affected and substantially decrease the direct economic losses relative to global gross domestic product caused by disasters, including water-related disasters, with a focus on protecting the poor and people in vulnerable situations.
- Indicator 11.5.1: Number of deaths, missing persons and directly affected persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population
- Indicator 11.5.2: Direct economic loss in relation to global GDP, damage to critical infrastructure and number of disruptions to basic services, attributed to disasters
- Target 11.b: Support least developed countries, including through financial and technical assistance, in building sustainable and resilient buildings utilizing local materials.
- Indicator 11.b.1: Number of countries that adopt and implement national disaster risk reduction strategies in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030
- Indicator 11.b.2: Proportion of local governments that adopt and implement local disaster risk reduction strategies in line with national disaster risk reduction strategies
SDG 13: Climate action
- Target 13.1: Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries.
- Indicator 13.1.1: Number of deaths, missing persons and directly affected persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population
- Indicator 13.1.2: Number of countries that adopt and implement national disaster risk reduction strategies in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030
- Indicator 13.1.3: Proportion of local governments that adopt and implement local disaster risk reduction strategies in line with national disaster risk reduction strategies
- Target 13.3: Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning.
- Indicator 13.3.1: Number of countries that have integrated mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning into primary, secondary and tertiary curricula
- Indicator 13.3.2: Number of countries that have communicated the strengthening of institutional, systemic and individual capacity-building to implement adaptation, mitigation and technology transfer, and development actions
SDG 15: Life on land
- Target 15.1: Ensure the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular forests, wetlands, mountains and drylands, in line with obligations under international agreements.
- Indicator 15.1.1: Forest area as a proportion of total land area
- Indicator 15.1.2: Proportion of important sites for terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity that are covered by protected areas, by ecosystem type
- Target 15.3: Combat desertification, restore degraded land and soil, including land affected by desertification, drought and floods, and strive to achieve a land degradation-neutral world.
- Indicator 15.3.1: Proportion of land that is degraded over total land area
SDG 1: End poverty
- Target 1.5: By 2030, build the resilience of the poor and those in vulnerable situations and reduce their exposure and vulnerability to climate-related extreme events and other economic, social and environmental shocks and disasters
- Indicator 1.5.1: Number of deaths, missing persons and directly affected persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population
- Indicator 1.5.2: Direct economic loss attributed to disasters in relation to global gross domestic product (GDP)
- Indicator 1.5.3: Number of countries that adopt and implement national disaster risk reduction strategies in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030
- Indicator 1.5.4: Proportion of local governments that adopt and implement local disaster risk reduction strategies in line with national disaster risk reduction strategies
- Target 1.a: Ensure significant mobilization of resources from a variety of sources, including through enhanced development cooperation, in order to provide adequate and predictable means for developing countries, in particular least developed countries, to implement programmes and policies to end poverty in all its dimensions
- Indicator 1.a.1: Proportion of domestically generated resources allocated by the government directly to poverty reduction programmes
- Indicator 1.a.2: Proportion of total government spending on essential services (education, health and social protection)
- Indicator 1.a.3: Sum of total grants and non-debt-creating inflows directly allocated to poverty reduction programmes as a proportion of GDP
SDG 2: Zero hunger
- Target 2.1: End hunger and ensure access by all people, in particular the poor and people in vulnerable situations, including infants, to safe, nutritious and sufficient food all year round.
- Indicator 2.1.1: Prevalence of undernourishment
- Indicator 2.1.2: Prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity in the population, based on the Food Insecurity Experience Scale (FIES)
- Target 2.4: Ensure sustainable food production systems and implement resilient agricultural practices that increase productivity and production, that help maintain ecosystems, that strengthen capacity for adaptation to climate change, extreme weather, drought, flooding and other disasters, and that progressively improve land and soil quality.
- Indicator 2.4.1: Proportion of agricultural area under productive and sustainable agriculture
SDG 5: Gender equality
- Target 5.5: Ensure women’s full and effective participation and equal opportunities for leadership at all levels of decision-making in political, economic and public life.
- Indicator 5.5.1: Proportion of seats held by women in (a) national parliaments and (b) local governments
- Indicator 5.5.2: Proportion of women in managerial positions
- Target 5.a: Undertake reforms to give women equal rights to economic resources, as well as access to ownership and control over land and other forms of property, financial services, inheritance and natural resources, in accordance with national laws.
- Indicator 5.a.1: (a) Proportion of total agricultural population with ownership or secure rights over agricultural land, by sex; and (b) share of women among owners or rights-bearers of agricultural land, by type of tenure
- Indicator 5.a.2: Proportion of countries where the legal framework (including customary law) guarantees women’s equal rights to land ownership and/or control
SDG 8: Decent work and economic growth
- Target 8.5: Achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all women and men, including for young people and persons with disabilities, and equal pay for work of equal value.
- Indicator 8.5.1: Average hourly earnings of female and male employees, by occupation, age and persons with disabilities
- Indicator 8.5.2: Unemployment rate, by sex, age and persons with disabilities
SDG 10: Reducing inequalities
- Target 10.2: Empower and promote the social, economic and political inclusion of all, irrespective of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status.
- Indicator 10.2.1: Proportion of people living below 50 per cent of median income, by sex, age and persons with disabilities
- Target 10.4: Adopt policies, especially fiscal, wage and social protection policies, and progressively achieve greater equality.
- Indicator 10.4.1: Labour share of GDP, comprising wages and social protection transfers
SDG 11: Sustainable cities and communities
- Target 11.5: Significantly reduce the number of deaths and the number of people affected and substantially decrease the direct economic losses relative to global gross domestic product caused by disasters, including water-related disasters, with a focus on protecting the poor and people in vulnerable situations.
- Indicator 11.5.1: Number of deaths, missing persons and directly affected persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population
- Indicator 11.5.2: Direct economic loss in relation to global GDP, damage to critical infrastructure and number of disruptions to basic services, attributed to disasters
- Target 11.b: Support least developed countries, including through financial and technical assistance, in building sustainable and resilient buildings utilizing local materials.
- Indicator 11.b.1: Number of countries that adopt and implement national disaster risk reduction strategies in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030
- Indicator 11.b.2: Proportion of local governments that adopt and implement local disaster risk reduction strategies in line with national disaster risk reduction strategies
SDG 13: Climate action
- Target 13.1: Strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters in all countries.
- Indicator 13.1.1: Number of deaths, missing persons and directly affected persons attributed to disasters per 100,000 population
- Indicator 13.1.2: Number of countries that adopt and implement national disaster risk reduction strategies in line with the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030
- Indicator 13.1.3: Proportion of local governments that adopt and implement local disaster risk reduction strategies in line with national disaster risk reduction strategies
- Target 13.3: Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning.
- Indicator 13.3.1: Number of countries that have integrated mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning into primary, secondary and tertiary curricula
- Indicator 13.3.2: Number of countries that have communicated the strengthening of institutional, systemic and individual capacity-building to implement adaptation, mitigation and technology transfer, and development actions
SDG 15: Life on land
- Target 15.1: Ensure the conservation, restoration and sustainable use of terrestrial and inland freshwater ecosystems and their services, in particular forests, wetlands, mountains and drylands, in line with obligations under international agreements.
- Indicator 15.1.1: Forest area as a proportion of total land area
- Indicator 15.1.2: Proportion of important sites for terrestrial and freshwater biodiversity that are covered by protected areas, by ecosystem type
- Target 15.3: Combat desertification, restore degraded land and soil, including land affected by desertification, drought and floods, and strive to achieve a land degradation-neutral world.
- Indicator 15.3.1: Proportion of land that is degraded over total land area
Mozambique is highly vulnerable to climate change due to its heavy reliance on climate-sensitive agriculture and frequent exposure to extreme weather events. Rising temperatures, erratic rainfall patterns, prolonged droughts, and increasingly severe cyclones and floods pose significant threats to food security, water resources, and rural livelihoods. Without substantial investments in adaptation, these climate impacts will continue to damage Mozambique’s economy and infrastructure while exacerbating the vulnerability of its population—particularly through heightened exposure to extreme weather events.
To address these challenges, this project integrates social protection with climate adaptation by leveraging Mozambique’s Productive Social Action Programme (PASP) to deliver targeted support to vulnerable communities. The project will include additional PASP-eligible groups highly vulnerable to drought, using community-led Local Adaptation Plans (LAPs) to integrate climate adaptation measures into PASP activities. By combining PASP and LAP approaches under LINK, the initiative aims to tackle chronic food and water insecurity intensified by shocks, structural risks, climate change (e.g., drought), and unemployment, fostering climate resilience and socio-economic stability for households. The project aims to reduce climate risks through by promoting:
- Sthreghtened institutional and community capacity at district and provincial level on climate resilient measures that meet local needs
- Increased gender equality and access to resources
- Priority locally-led adaptation actions and social protection support identified in the LAPs implemented by communities and local governments
- Improved income generation and enhanced local economies
- Improved management of natural resources and land management
- Improved enabling enviroment through CCA mainstreaming into district development planning and budgeting, policy dialogue, disseminations and learning
- Improved community cohesion, health and nutrition
The project will contribute to enhancing the social protection and climate change adaptation of vulnerable communities by improving and reinforcing the capacity of local governmental and nongovernmental actors to identify and implement adaptation measures based on communities’ specific needs. With a better adaptive capacity, the local communities’ exposure to climatic risks will be reduced and resilience will be increased.
Expected outcomes include enhanced stakeholder awareness, updated local adaptation plans, climate-resilient social protection programs, and improved coordination of adaptation efforts. The project will support government and local stakeholders to:
- Update or develop Local Adaptation Plans (LAPs) and integrate them into District Development Plans and District Economic and Social Plans, ensuring alignment with social protection schemes.
- Implement and monitor risk-informed adaptation measures within LAPs.
- Provide adaptive social protection to the most vulnerable households—including female- and child-headed families and those with disabilities—through district-level adaptation activities.
If climate change adaptation is effectively mainstreamed into policy and local capacities are strengthened—particularly for drought-focused, locally led adaptation—then marginalized communities, including women and children in selected rural areas, will achieve greater long-term resilience. The primary beneficiaries include:
- Rural communities most vulnerable to drought and other climate hazards.
- Marginalized groups disproportionately affected by climate shocks, discrimination, and violence.
- By project completion, an estimated 544,499 people (1.7% of Mozambique’s population, 50% women) will directly benefit, while 3.6 million (11% of the population, 50% women) will indirectly benefit from at least one project-supported intervention
LINK’s measures will benefit rural populations by improving food security, creating local employment opportunities, and empowering women and youth. This will result from their improved ability to develop and implement adaptation actions and increased access to adaptive social protection services.
Integration of Social Protection & Climate Adaptation is Critical
· Combining Mozambique’s Productive Social Action Programme (PASP) with Local Adaptation Plans (LAPs) helped align poverty reduction with climate resilience, ensuring vulnerable households receive both immediate support and long-term adaptive capacity.
Decentralized Planning Enhances Local Ownership
· Involving local governments and communities in developing LAPs ensured adaptation measures were context-specific and aligned with district development plans, improving sustainability.
Gender-Inclusive Approaches Strengthen Resilience
· Addressing gender norms and barriers (e.g., women’s leadership in decision-making, access to resources) led to more equitable and effective climate adaptation outcomes.
Multi-Stakeholder Governance Improves Coordination
· A Project Steering Committee (PSC) with representatives from government, NGOs, and local authorities ensured policy alignment and streamlined implementation across sectors.
Community-Led Adaptation Drives Impact
· Participatory planning empowered communities to identify and implement priority adaptation actions, such as climate-resilient agriculture and water management.
Scalability Depends on Institutional Capacity
· Strengthening local government capacity (e.g., disaster risk reduction, social protection integration) was essential for scaling up successful interventions.
Early Warning & Adaptive Social Protection Reduce Vulnerability
· Linking shock-responsive social protection with climate early warning systems helped households anticipate and recover from climate shocks.
Mainstreaming Climate Adaptation into Policy Ensures Long-Term Impact
· Embedding LAPs into national and district planning (e.g., District Development Plans) institutionalized climate resilience beyond the project lifecycle.
Climate resilient agricultural technologies; Public works, employment guarantee schemes and direct job creation including community development programmes; Pro-poor access to agricultural inputs, technology and knowledge
The project will be governed by the following entities:
● Save the Children Australia (SCA) is the Accredited Entity (AE). SCA will be responsible for the GCF proceeds and for the overall quality assurance and oversight of the project. The AE will also support in providing technical support, particularly in relation to the social protection aspects.
● Save the Children Mozambique (SCMOZ) will act as Executing Entity (EE) for most project activities, acting in technical assistance, awareness and capacity building activities. SCMOZ will also ensure the implementation of the transfer of funds to local governments and the monitoring and evaluation activities. SCMOZ will co-chair the PSC.
● MTA/DMC will be co-EE to some activities for which it has proved to have a comparative advantage, such as in leading the LAP process. MTA/DMC will chair the PSC and will be responsible for managing and overseeing the project and its continuation after the project’s implementation period.
● The National Directorate for Monitoring and Evaluation from the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF, the GCF NDA), will co-chair the PSC. MEF will be leading the mechanisms to integrate the LAPs investments into the PESOD, testing and consolidating the means to build a strong link between both planning tools. MEF will also lead the monitoring mechanism around LAP activities implementation in line with the community-based approach.
● INGD (National Institute for Disaster Risk Management and Reduction) will have a key role to ensure the links at the district level between the LAPs and the Adaptive Social Protection approach and other instruments such as the PEBES (school DRM structure) and the District Early Action protocols.
● The MADER will have a seat at the PSC and ensure that activities related to food security and climate resilient agriculture are consistent with national policies and strategies.
● A Project Management Unit (PMU) will be responsible for the execution and implementation of the project. The PMU is the technical-administrative unit for the project. The PMU will be established in Maputo and will coordinate and support project implementation and day-to-day activities during the project lifecycle, in close consultation with the governing structures of the project (PSC). The PMU will be located physically at MTA/DMC but will be under the supervision of SC Mozambique. If considered adequate and transparent, the PMU will use government systems for the procurement processes and operating procedures. The PMU will operate according to the Annual Work Plan approved by the PSC of the project. All the administrative matters of the project: acquisition plan, financial plan, periodic reports, will be approved by the PSC.
At the National level:
A Project Steering Committee (PSC), the highest level of project governance, will strategically guide the overall project implementation and ensure inter-institutional coordination and consistency of the outputs with the strategic framework. The PSC will be comprised of high-level representatives from MTA, MEF, MGCAS, MADER, INGD, and SCMOZ. The MTA/DMC will chair the PSC and SC will act as the Secretariat. PSC key responsibilities will be:
● Together with MTA, review the LAPs’ methodology to ensure the linkages between social protection and climate change adaptation as per national recommendations and practices in the country.
● To ensure that the activities are in line with the national strategies, especially the Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation Strategy and the Basic Social Security Strategy – ENSSB (National Strategy for Basic Social Security) that refers to the climate resilience and autonomy of the most vulnerable households.
● Review and provide suggestions on how further scale-up of this project can be achieved after project end, integrating its model into the government’s cyclical planning and budgeting processes.
● Together with MGCAS, inform the development of the Adaptive Social Protection approach, including the influence of the social protection action programs based on the local climate change adaptation planning to achieve ways that assess and identify the adaptation needs of social protection eligible households.
At the provincial level:
Operational units will serve as the key channel of communication between the PMU and the implementing entities and the local governments. The project activities will be coordinated through the operational units which will ensure the smooth running of the project across the different institutions, including the district authorities, consultants, service providers, community associations, NGOs, and other SC partners. The operational units will ensure coordinated planning and action across stakeholders and ensure that children’s voices, perspectives, and opinions are included in the project governance through the children’s parliaments at the province level. They will play a crucial role to maintain technical competency and quality and to monitor, evaluate and report project activities. These operational units will be located in INGD offices at the provincial levels. Their responsibilities will be:
● To provide overall governance and technical guidance for the implementation and integration of LAP activities as part of the district development plans;
● To coordinate with other key sectors working with social protection and climate change adaptation;
● To ensure a robust connection to both the district level and the national level;
● To coordinate the various sectors and institutions at the provincial level to ensure the best possible multi-sectorial approach and technical guidance to the project implementation;
● To guide the project progress and possible revision of activities over time;
● To review and endorse the project progress report prepared by the district governments;
● To ensure an institutional approach and consolidated methodology around the development of the Adaptive Social Protection approach;
● To ensure that the activities are in line with the provincial multi-sectorial planning;
● To develop the MEAL framework for the Local Adaptation Plans being implemented and monitor the implementation of activities; and
● To identify existing and required capacities within their province and plan and support the use of resources and the building of capacities in the province and districts.
Save the Children, in partnership with the Government of Mozambique, will prioritize 27 vulnerable districts across Gaza, Manica, and Tete provinces for community-based adaptation actions. These efforts will be linked to national Adaptive Social Protection schemes to ensure scalability and replication in other regions. The Green Climate Fund estimates this project has approximately 975.000 thousand beneficiaries, of which 415.000 are direct and 560.000 are indirect.
The Green Climate Fund estimates a U$28,333,800 cost to this project in total:
● U$23.5m grant (82.9%) allocated by the GCF;
● U$ 3,349,714 in-kind financing by the Ministry of Land and Environment;
● U$ 1,171,271 grant by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD);
● U$ 100,000 in-kind financing by the AEROMAP;
● U$ 212,815 grant by Save the Children Italy.
Mozambique’s National Bureau of Statistics: https://www.ine.gov.mz/en/
Mozambique Climate Data Platform: https://www.mozclimatedata.gov.mz/
https://www.greenclimate.fund/project/sap042#overview