World Bank to support climate change resilience in the Barotse Sub-Basin, Zambia

The World Bank and the government of Zambia have signed a finance agreement of US$36 million for climate change resilience in the Barotse Sub-Basin project in Mongu District of Western Province.

The support for the six-year project will come in the form of a $31 million grant and $5 million credit is from the Strategic Climate Fund-Pilot Programme for Climate Resilience (PPCR).

It will be channelled through the World Bank and is aiming to strengthen national institutional framework for climate resilience, and improve the adaptation capacity of poor and vulnerable communities in the Barotse flood plain.

During the signing ceremony in Mongu yesterday, Country Director Kundhavi Kadiresan, who signed on behalf on the World Bank, said the project would focus on one of the poorest and most vulnerable areas of Zambia, such as the Barotse flood plains.

The area has been suffering from effects of recurrent droughts, higher temperatures and unprecedented floods.

She said the project would play a vital role to improve the livelihood of people who live in the Barotse flood plain through better use of information on the impact of climate change and variability.

It will also include use of drought or flood resistant crops to improve food security, provision of early warning and community preparedness.

Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda said it was against the backdrop of high poverty levels in the province and the need for targeted interventions that the project was set up in the area.

Mr Chikwanda said a number of direct project beneficiaries under the participatory adaptation component were 130,000 people.

He said the project would target an estimated 32 per cent of female and male-headed households and would reserve at least 30 per cent of individual grants for women.

Mr Chikwanda said through strengthened canal management, the project would help generate an estimated 3,250 persons per day of labour-intensive works, and directly benefit about 41,700 of the population living inwards adjacent to the canals.