Addis Ababa, December, 6, 2022 (FBC) – The FDRE Ministry of Finance (MoF) and the African Development Bank (AfDB) signed a 14 million USD grant agreement for the Borena Resilient Water Development for Improved Livelihoods Program.
The project will be used to enhance climate-resilient environmental development, gender-sensitive integrated sustainable water development, environmental and personal hygiene services in the Borena zone of the Oromia region,
It also aims to support the health, social living, and nutrition and food security activities of pastoralists living in water-scarce areas.
State Minister at MoF, Ms Semerita Sewasew, who signed the agreement, said that the grant agreement will be used to develop groundwater in drought-affected areas in the Borena zone to ensure sustainable development to pastoralists and improve livelihoods in various sectors.
The Minister of State explained that since the annual distribution of rainfall in the lowland areas including the Borena zone is unpredictable, most of the people are exposed to extreme poverty and food insecurity.
She said that the Ethiopian government has recently prepared and implemented a policy for the development of pastoral areas to alleviate the problem.
According to Semerita, the policy will serve as a key strategy to improve livestock productivity and enhance drought resilience by increasing sustainable water resource management activities using domestic experise of pastoralists.
It is stated that the grant will also focus on mitigating the impact of drought and sustainable resilience in relation to water resources through the use of Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) practices.
The grant agreement was signed by the Minister of State for Finance, Semerita Sewasew, and the Deputy Director General of the African Development Bank Group, East Africa Region, Dr. Abdul Kamara.