The Green Climate Fund has approved $151 million in financing for a major resilience program supported by the African Development Bank (AfDB) to combat climate vulnerability in the Horn of Africa. The decision, announced at the Fund’s 39th Board meeting, includes a $90.7 million grant and a $60.3 million loan to bolster climate resilience in the region.

The financing will support AfDB’s “Building Climate Resilience for Food and Livelihoods in the Horn of Africa” program, which aims to benefit 4.6 million people across Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, and South Sudan.

These countries are among the most susceptible to climate-related risks, such as erratic rainfall, rising temperatures, and increasingly frequent droughts and floods. These conditions have significantly worsened socioeconomic challenges and threatened the livelihoods of agro-pastoral communities reliant on rain-fed agriculture.

Dr. Martin Fregene, AfDB’s Director for Agriculture and Agro-Industry, highlighted the significance of the Green Climate Fund’s support in the Bank’s mission to foster climate resilience in the region. “The mobilization of the Green Climate Fund support shows the continued commitment of the African Development Bank Group to scale up climate-resilient and sustainable agriculture systems in the Horn of Africa, thereby improving food security in one of the most vulnerable regions of the planet,” Fregene said.

He added that the new resources would also support the implementation of the Feed Africa Strategy and complement the Country Food and Agriculture Delivery Compacts presented at the Dakar 2 Feed Africa: Food Sovereignty and Resilience Summit. “This will support the reduction of poverty and food insecurity while contributing to accelerated sustainable economic growth in the region,” Fregene noted.

The financing will fund a range of community-driven and gender-balanced resilience solutions. These include sustainable land management practices, access to climate-smart technologies and best practices, renewable energy, capacity-building for cooperatives, agribusiness, micro, small, and medium enterprises, credit and climate services, early warning systems, and index insurance.

Dr. Anthony Nyong, AfDB’s Director for Climate Change and Green Growth, emphasized the Bank’s long-standing commitment to climate action and the importance of integrating low-carbon and climate-resilient economic development into its operations.

“AfDB has had a long-standing commitment to action on climate change and is committed to ensuring that we streamline low-carbon and climate-resilient economic development in all key sectors of our work,” Nyong stated. He noted that the new resources would strengthen the Bank’s efforts to mitigate climate change impacts and build resilience, particularly in agrarian communities.

Beyond community benefits, the Green Climate Fund financing is expected to significantly reduce carbon emissions, potentially sequestering 14.1 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent over the project’s 25-year lifetime. This reduction is comparable to the lifetime emissions of 600,000 cars.

AfDB will administer the new financing and oversee the program, which is set to begin in the first quarter of 2025. The project will be implemented over six years by the respective ministries responsible for finance and agriculture in the five target countries, with project interventions expected to benefit targeted communities for 25 years.