AfDB approves 5.4 million USD to boost food security in Somalia

The African Development Bank (AfDB) through its concessional arm, the African Development Fund, has approved a 5.4 million US dollar grant to support the building of urgently needed food security in Somalia.

Nnenna Nwabufo, director-general for the Bank's East Africa region, said in a statement released Wednesday that the effect of the prolonged drought and the added impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict has deepened food insecurity in the country.

Nwabufo said the grant constitutes additional financing to the multinational Program to Build Resilience for Food and Nutrition Security and will specifically deploy certified quality seeds of climate-adapted fodder varieties and enable the establishment of fodder banks in the six regional states of the country.

"Over the years, droughts have been increasing in severity and frequency in Somalia, creating conditions of chronic vulnerability with persistent food insecurity, widespread economic hardships, conflicts, and migration, hitting the pastoralist and agro-pastoralist communities hardest," she said.

According to the United Nations, more than 7.1 million people, nearly half of the total population, are facing historic levels of drought in Somalia.

( With inputs from ANI )