The funding of $151 million for the climate resilience programme in the Horn of Africa was approved at the 39th meeting of the Green Fund’s Board of Directors. It comprises a grant of $90.7 million and a loan of $60.3 million.
The Green Climate Fund has approved funding of $151 million for a major resilience programme supported by the African Development Bank to combat climate vulnerabilities in the Horn of Africa, according to a press statement received by APA on Tuesday.
The financing was approved at the 39th meeting of the Fund’s Board of Directors and comprises a grant of 90.7 million dollars and a loan of 60.3 million dollars.
The document states that these resources will support the Bank Group’s “Building Climate Resilience for Food and Livelihoo ds in the Horn of Africa” programme, which will benefit 4.6 million people in Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia and South Sudan.
“Mobilising support from the Green Climate Fund demonstrates the African Development Bank Group’s continued commitment to developing sustainable and climate-resilient agricultural systems in the Horn of Africa, thereby improving food security in one of the world’s most vulnerable regions,” said Martin Fregene, Director of Agriculture and Agribusiness at the AfDB.
These resources will also help to consolidate the “Feed Africa” strategy and complement the National Food and Agricultural Supply Pacts presented at the Dakar 2 Summit on “Feeding Africa: Food Sovereignty and Resilience,” Mr. Fregene said.
This new funding will support community-based and gender-balanced resilience measures. These include sustainable land management practices, access to climate-smart technologies and best practices, renewable energy, capacity building for cooperatives, agribusiness and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), credit and climate services, early warning and index insurance.
“This will help to reduce poverty and food insecurity, while contributing to the acceleration of sustainable economic growth in the region,” the AfDB Director of Agriculture and Agribusiness added.
According to the AfDB, the Horn of Africa is the region most exposed to climate risks, such as erratic rainfall, rising temperatures, and increasingly frequent droughts and floods.
These conditions have exacerbated socio-economic challenges and threatened the livelihoods of agro-pastoral communities that depend on rain-fed agriculture.
Climate change has led to an increase in livestock, crop and human diseases, as well as soil degradation, reducing productivity.
ARD/Sf/ac/fss/GIK/APA