The Board of Directors of the African Development Fund in Abidjan on 28 February 2024, donated $46.02 million to Ethiopia to implement Phase 2 of the Borana Resilient Water Development for Improved Livelihoods Program in the country’s south.
Financial support from the African Development Bank Group’s concessional rate loans window is intended to improve access to integrated, sustainable, climate-smart, gender-sensitive water supply and sanitation services for pastoral communities in the arid lands of the Borana area, in the Oromia region.
Borana’s estimated population of 1.2 million people, of whom half are women, is growing rapidly and projected to reach 1.8 million by 2030. Most rely on pastoralism for their livelihood and are therefore subject to the effects of varying rainfall levels and recurrent droughts that lead to water insecurity. As of March 2023, over 3.3 million livestock have died of water scarcity in the region, leaving over 67,000 households without livelihoods. The climate impacts on pasture and water availability also tend to exacerbate tensions over land and water resources.
“This is a peace-building program in an environment where the extremes of climate change are increasingly manifesting, millions of livestock are lost, and conflicts are increasing among pastoralist due to limited pastures and water supply,” said Dr Beth Dunford, Vice President, Agriculture, Human and Social Development.
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