News
The IOC: strengthening regional cooperation in the Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean region faces pressing challenges in terms of climate resilience, health security, marine resource conservation, economic development, and regional integration. Against this backdrop,...
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A groundbreaking partnership in Mayotte to support the lagoon and coastal communities and ecosystems
Agence Française de Développement (AFD), the French Ministry for Overseas Territories, the Aga Khan Foundation, and the Ismaili Imamat have launched a groundbreaking partnership in Mayotte to protect...
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5 years on: new Kiwa Initiative projects
To mark its fifth anniversary, in August 2025, the Kiwa Initiative launched fifteen new local projects, whose objectives include restoring forests with native species, protecting coral reefs, developi...
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AFD Group strengthens its partnership with the Aga Khan Foundation
AFD Group and the Aga Khan Foundation have signed an ambitious partnership to support coastal populations and ecosystems in the Indian Ocean.
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Sailing against the tide of waste: the ‘Plastic Odyssey’
As the world prepares for the UN Ocean Conference (UNOC), set to take place from 9 to 13 June 2025 in Nice, France, the stopovers of the laboratory ship Plastic Odyssey in the Indian Ocean mark an unp...
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AFD Group Annual Meetings: stronger partnerships to face challenges together
AFD Group’s Annual Meetings, held from January 6 to 10 in Paris, brought together agency directors from across the world, representatives of the French government, researchers, economists, and leaders...
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Nature's Laboratories for Climate change: How the EU and AFD are protecting the Planet’s Poles
The first-ever international summit on glaciers and the poles, held in Paris this month, shed light on the role played by the planet’s extreme regions in regulating the climate and preserving biodiver...
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Passing traditional knowledge from mother to child to protect the environment
Traditional knowledge passed on from mother to daughter can help future generations tackle the consequences of global warming, but such knowledge is in danger of being lost. On International Women's D...
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The Pacific Ocean: Working with Island States Vulnerable to Climate Change
Emmanuel Macron made a landmark visit to Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea in July, the first by a French President since Charles de Gaulle. The visit comes as climate change poses enormous risks for count...
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Polynesia: Preparing Future Generations for Climate Change with Educational Marine Areas
With island states at grave risk of being submerged by rising waters, it has never been more important to educate young people on the pleasures and perils of the sea, and on the need to find ways to a...
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Suriname: Improving Waste Treatment for a Cleaner Environment and Better Human Health
Open rubbish dumps, rapidly expanding landfills and the open-air burning of waste are damaging both the environment and human health in Suriname. Lacking infrastructure and robust regulation, the smal...
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Agro-Industry in French Guiana
In French Guiana, local industry struggles to meet the needs of the agricultural and agro-industrial sector, due to the small size of farms and a continuing lack of processing tools. The result: a sec...
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Microfinance: a Boon for Entrepreneurs Excluded from Conventional Banking
Small businesses and entrepreneurs with few resources can find it extremely difficult to obtain loans and get off the ground. Microfinance however, can be a source of invaluable support. AFD Group ha...
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3 Drivers of Sustainable Transitions in French Overseas Territories
Perhaps more than anything else, three things drive the economies of French overseas territories in helping them adopt a more sustainable model: energy transitions, agricultural reforms and sustainabl...
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Confronting Coastal Erosion in the Caribbean
With rising sea levels and the chipping away of their coastlines, islands like Martinique are already bearing the brunt of climate change. Thirteen municipalities are on the list of regions vulnerable...
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In Reunion, Solar Power is Crucial for Agriculture – and Social Reintegration
In the Indian Ocean, Reunion and its 860,000 inhabitants depend heavily on imports. But solar energy is part of an increasingly sustainable electricity supply. Since 2014, this French Overseas Departm...
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A Digital Response to the Health Crisis
Launched in Dakar, the DIRECCT program is supporting the connectivity and digitization of operators in the health, education and small business sectors. It’s a program that is helping people and polic...
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The Untapped Potential of an invasive Antilles Seaweed
Sargassum is a large brown seaweed that constitutes an important habitat for fish and wildlife. But it can proliferate for miles, and become invasive. AFD is a partner of the Sarg'Coop project led by...
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The Kiwa Initiative: Call for Ideas 2021 Now Open for Regional Projects
The Kiwa Initiative aims to strengthen the climate change resilience of Pacific Island ecosystems, communities and economies through Nature-Based Solutions (NBS). Launched by AFD in 2020, the initiati...
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Kiwa Initiative: A network of organic learning farms in the Pacific to promote climate change resilience and f...
Guest Post – As part of the Kiwa initiative, AFD and the Pacific Community are supporting the creation of a network of organic farms to support farmers in the Pacific Islands in their transition to su...
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