Zambia gets $208m drought-relief grant

The World Bank has approved a grant for Zambia worth $208m as the country struggles to address the impact of drought overwhelming the region. Zambia's Finance Ministry announced the grant on Tuesday. A report on the allAfrica site notes that it will allow the government to provide more affected people with direct cash transfers, as well as roughly doubling the amount given per household per month, from the equivalent of around $8.30 to $16.60, the Ministry said. ‘The project development objective is to protect poor and vulnerable households' consumption in response to shocks in Zambia,’ said World Bank Executive Director Dr Floribert Ngaruko. The grant is specifically expected to support over 1.6m households across the 84 drought-impacted districts with cash assistance over a 12-month period. Southern Africa is experiencing its worst drought in years. It is partially impacted by the El Nino climate phenomenon, characterised by warmer sea surface temperatures in the Pacific Ocean near the equator with disruptive effects on global weather patterns. The UN has called Zambia's agricultural season the ‘driest’ in over 40 years, with the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs saying more than 9m people in 84 out of the country's 117 districts are affected.

Full report on the allAfrica site