Partnership Strategy for a Sustainable African Forestry Fund

The Global Environment Fund uses impact investing to achieve positive environmental impacts and resource efficiency across six sectors: energy efficiency, the clean energy value chain, water, waste, food and agriculture, and materials. To leverage the impact of its $150–200 million sustainable forestry fund, GEF needed to build partnerships with diverse organizations across nine African countries. GEF called on Blue Earth Consultants to help it identify, reach, and engage target partners.

Blue Earth Consultants researched and built a database of the best organizations, by country and sector, for GEF to target for strategic partnerships. The database included potential partners working in biodiversity and conservation, sustainable economic development and microenterprise, and health and HIV across nine countries in Africa. We then worked closely with GEF to craft an outreach strategy and marketing materials to engage target partners, including a brochure, “Africa Sustainable Forestry Fund: Investing in a Better Africa.” We also drafted a document that outlined best practices and recommended next steps to build strong partnerships.