The agreement was signed in Rome by the Ambassador of Ethiopia in Italy Zenebu Tadesse and IFAD President Gilbert F. Houngbo. This was reported by Ethiopian news Fana resource.
About half a million of the most vulnerable households in Ethiopia will benefit from new project aimed at improving resilience to climate shocks in the poorest regions of the country. For over two decades climate change has put pressure on the Ethiopian economy, destroying the livelihoods of people.
The majority of the population in the lowland areas depend on rain-fed agriculture and cattle breeding and therefore vulnerable to drought, desertification and floods. The project is primarily designed to facilitate the achievement of the Objectives No. 1 and No. 2 in the area of sustainable development (poverty eradication and hunger), will introduce small-scale irrigation technology to reduce dependence on irregular rains. It will also help small farmers to invest in the research system for more rapid adaptation to climate change.
Activities under the project will also improve management of rangeland and natural resources, increasing access to basic social services. It will also help to mitigate conflicts over scarce resources in a fragile pastoral and agro-pastoral ecosystems.