The Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) has announced that it is providing technical advisory support to a new World Bank’s investment project in Ethiopia.
In a statement, the GCA said the project valued at $600 million, aims to increase the resilience of Ethiopia’s food systems and its preparedness for food insecurity.
The statement read in part: ““As a result of climate change, smallholder farmers in Ethiopia are suffering from greater variability and extreme weather events, increased temperature and declining rainfall in a country where 85 percent of farmers are depended on rain-fed agriculture.”
Ethiopia is currently in the middle of one of the worst droughts for 50 years which follows 12 to 18 months of erratic and failed rains which have dried up many water sources.
The war in Ukraine and subsequent rising wheat, fuel and fertilizer costs are also worsening the country’s food crisis.
GCA adds value to accelerate adaptation to climate in the implementation of the project by carrying out specific activities including: assessment of climatic risks to smallholders in in 14 priority value chains in the crop/livestock sub-sectors, identification of digital adaptation tools that can address these risks and, assessment of opportunities and constraints to their deployment in the country
According to the statement, it is expected that the project will result in 2.4 million farmers adopting resilience-enhancing technologies and practices; 15% reduction of food insecure people in program targeted areas.
Other anticipated benefits include; 20% increase in yields of cereals and pulses in households benefiting directly from the project and a 25% increase in volume of agricultural products sold in domestic and regional markets.
The Global Center on Adaptation (GCA) is an international organization that functions as a solutions broker to accelerate action and support for adaptation solutions, from the international to the local, in partnership with the public and private sector.
Founded in 2018, GCA, with a worldwide network of regional offices in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire; Dhaka, Bangladesh and Beijing – China, operates from its headquarters in the largest floating office in the world, located in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
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