On 22 September 2023 in Antananarivo, the African Development Bank (AfDB) and Madagascar's Ministry of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene launched the preparation phase of the Project to Mobilise, Protect and Enhance Water Resources and Strengthen Resilience to Climate Change. Financed to the tune of $3.32 million by the African Development Fund (ADF) Project Preparation Facility, the project is a response to a request from the Madagascan authorities to address the socio-economic and environmental impacts of climate change on the population and ecosystems.
Severe alternating droughts and floods have plunged several regions of Madagascar into a severe food crisis, known as “kêrê” in the local language. Faced with this situation, the government wants to secure access to water and strengthen people’s resilience to climate change. This is the aim of the project to mobilise, protect and develop water resources and strengthen resilience to climate change, the preparatory phase of which was launched on 22 September 2023 in Antananarivo, the Malagasy capital.
“The project comes at the right time. The government has great hopes in it and in the support of the African Development Bank (AfDB) for this project, which will put an end to the ‘kêrê’ phenomenon and speed up the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 6 by 2030”, says Ravokatra Fidiniavo, Madagascar’s Minister of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene. Financed to the tune of US$3.32 million by the Project Preparation Facility of the African Development Fund (ADF), the concessional financing arm of the AfDB, the project covers the regions of Amoron’i Mania, Vakinankaratra, Analamanga (Centre), Haute Matsiatra, Ihorombe (South-East) and Androy (South).
Present at the ceremony to launch this important stage of the project, the AfDB’s Country Manager for Madagascar, Adam Amoumoun, reiterated the financial institution’s commitment to supporting the Malagasy government in improving the living conditions of its people and strengthening their resilience to climate challenges.
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The investment project that will result from this preparatory phase aims to strengthen the resilience of ecosystems and populations to the effects of climate change by mobilising, protecting and developing water resources. In concrete terms, the aim is to improve access to drinking water, reduce gender-based inequalities and promote sustainable, inclusive and resilient socio-economic development in the project areas.
Boris Ngounou
