Story by Peter Chivhima
AFRICAN Development Bank (AfDB) has approved a US$14.5 million grant to boost Zimbabwe’s capacity to respond to climate shocks.
The grant is earmarked for enhancing resilience and supporting vulnerable communities in Zimbabwe, who are at high risk of climate-induced disasters.
In her remarks on the sidelines of the launch of the Mitigating Fragility through the Africa Disaster Risk Financing Programme in Harare this Wednesday, AFDB Group Country Programme Officer and Acting Country Manager, Ms Belinda Chesire highlighted the expected outcomes of the grant.
“As you will recall, Zimbabwe previously implemented Phase One of the ADRiFi Project (2020–2024), and the approval of this follow-on support allows the government to scale up those earlier successes and leverage complementary contributions from partner organisations present today.
This new project, with a total budget of US$14.5 million, will pursue three key outcomes, strengthened institutional capacity for climate disaster risk preparedness and management, and expanded access to sovereign-level ex-ante disaster risk financing. Increased coverage of index-based agricultural insurance for smallholder farmers,” she said.
Chief Director of the Department of Civil Protection, Mr Nathan Nkomo says the grant is a welcome boost to the country’s capacity to manage and mitigate climate-related disasters.
“We are poised to benefit significantly from the US$14.5 million grant provided by the African Development Bank Group. This funding will enhance our national capacity to manage and mitigate climate-related disasters. Key beneficiaries include the Meteorological Services Department, which plays a critical role in issuing early warnings for impending disasters.
“Strengthening this department will improve the timeliness and accuracy of alerts, enabling communities to prepare and respond effectively. Additionally, the Scientific and Industrial Research and Development Centre (SIRDC) will benefit from the grant. SIRDC’s research initiatives are vital for developing innovative solutions to climate challenges, and this funding will support their efforts in advancing climate resilience technologies,” he said.
The government is stepping up climate action through renewable energy, reforestation and community-driven resilience efforts.
