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THE African Development Bank (AfDB) has unveiled a $549 million drought response package for 14 countries most affected by the El Nino induced drought in Eastern and Southern Africa. AfDB acknowledged the severe impact of the El Nino weather pattern that is associated with abnormally high temperatures and the worst drought the region has experienced in decades, leaving almost 36 million people in need of food aid.
In a statement posted on its website, AfDB group president Akinwumi Adesina said some of the funds would go towards building resilience of countries to drought.
“The drought response package announced by the AfDB group consists of $5 million in emergency relief and $361 million in short-to-long term support from various windows of the Bank’s financial instruments,’’ he said.
Adesina emphasised that there would be greater flexibility in the use of AfDB’s financial instruments and speed in disbursements. “The AfDB will put in place a mechanism that would ensure faster disbursements of funds in on-going projects, which were designed to build the affected countries’ resilience to drought.”
He noted that African agriculture was nearly 95 percent rain-fed, leaving countries highly vulnerable to fluctuations in rainfall patterns. “Currently, Eastern and Southern Africa are experiencing severe droughts that have disrupted crop and livestock production systems in about 14 countries,” he said. – New Ziana
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