The African Climate Change Fund, supported by the African Development Bank (AfDB), has approved a $600,000 (€491,000) grant to Mozambique to implement climate change resilience projects in communities in Zambezia province.
“This project aims to contribute to the identification of climate resilience models at the level of communities, which are necessary to feed Mozambique,” said Pietro Toigo, resident representative of the ADB, quoted in the Bank’s statement sent to the media today.
This is a project aimed at improving the livelihood systems of the inhabitants of 10 rural and vulnerable communities, about 100 families, residing in coastal and marine areas of that province of central Mozambique.
The communities are from the Environment Protection Area of the First and Second Islands, in Pebane district and in the buffer zone of Mocubela district, in Zambezia province.
According to the document, the project, aligned with local and provincial priorities, will train women and young people to implement “low carbon initiatives and the recovery of degraded ecosystems.
The project, which started in late 2020 and will last for two years, will promote an integrated system of agriculture, agroforestry, fish farming, and beekeeping, according to the statement.
The country is going through a rainy and cyclonic season, which occurs between the months of October and April, with winds coming from the Indian Ocean and floods originating in the southern African basins.
The natural disasters of recent months have deeply affected central and southern Mozambique, in the provinces of Sofala, Manica, the southern part of Zambezia, Inhambane, and Gaza.
The most severe were storm Chalane in late 2020 and cyclone Eloise in January, with a total official tally of 19 deaths. Reports from local officials point to double that.
Last weekend, cyclone Guambe passed off the Mozambican coast and affected several districts in the southern area.
