Kenya received $150m from World Bank to combat drought

drought

Kenya received $150m from World Bank to combat drought

In the wake of the floods, the locust invasion, and the Covid-19 pandemic, Kenya is experiencing an unending drought that is harming the country’s drinking water supplies, crops, and herds’ pastures.

More than 2 million Kenyans are malnourished, according to the National Drought Management Authority (NDMA), says a recent report. As such, the drought forced President Uhuru Kenyatta to proclaim a state of natural disaster on September 8, 2021.

In response to the need to address the climate crisis in Kenya, the World Bank recently awarded $150 million to fund climate resilience projects identified and carried out domestically in all rural districts in Kenya.

This fund was provided by the International Development Association (IDA), a division of the World Bank dedicated to assisting the world’s poorest nations. IDA, which is governed by 173 shareholder countries, aims to alleviate poverty by providing zero to low-interest loans (known as “credits”) and grants to support initiatives that promote economic growth, eliminate inequalities, and enhance people’s living conditions.

To supplement IDA support, the Social Sustainability for All Initiative Multi-Donor Trust Fund, led by the governments of Denmark and Sweden has committed a $21.4 million grant. Kenya will receive a total of $ 171.4 million as a result of this.

The new climate finance in Kenya will be channeled through the new Locally Led Climate Action Finance Program (FLLoCA) which seeks to undertake locally-driven climate resilience activities and enhance the capacity of national governments and local communities to manage the climate threats.

Nicholas Soikan, a senior social development specialist at the World Bank and team leader for the FLLoCA program in Kenya, stated that the program’s primary beneficiaries will be communities in remote regions, particularly those in arid and semi-arid geographic areas that have been impacted by climate change, such as droughts and floods, epidemics of climate-related diseases, low agricultural land productivity, and livestock decline.

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