Zambia’s Finance Ministry announced on Tuesday that the World Bank has approved a $208 million grant to address the social and economic impact of the recent drought in the country.
Southern Africa is currently facing its most severe drought in years. This has been caused by a naturally occurring weather phenomenon known as El Nino, which leads to higher temperatures worldwide due to the abnormal warming of waters in the eastern Pacific and an increase in average temperatures caused by greenhouse gas emissions.
Zambia, Malawi and Zimbabwe have all declared a disaster because of the drought, which has severely impacted food production and, ultimately, the livelihoods of millions of people.
The World Bank grant aims to assist Zambia in addressing the consequences of drought by supplying extra temporary cash aid to impacted households.
The ministry said the grant will support almost two million households for over 12 months and strengthen existing social protection programmes.