Germany contributes US$10 million to support smallholder farmers affected by climate change in Zambia

“Addressing multiple vulnerabilities driven by conflict, climate change and the current COVID-19 health crisis requires joined efforts,” said Mr Achim Burkart, Germany’s Ambassador to Zambia. “We hope that this funding can support WFP, the Government and its partners in building more resilient communities.”

The funding, from the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through the German Development Bank KfW, will allow WFP to help smallholder farmers to recover from drought and enhance their ability to withstand future climate shocks.          

“This generous contribution comes at a time of increasing needs’’, said WFP Country Representative, Ms Jennifer Bitonde. “Last year alone, 2.3 million people were affected by drought, and they are now trying to rebuild their livelihoods amidst the COVID-19 crisis.”

The funding will be used to promote the use of conservation agriculture practices that increase yields, enhance access to post-harvest management technologies to reduce food losses and scale up the use of drought-tolerant crops such as cowpeas and groundnuts. The contribution will also support the nutrition of 33,000 school children’s through the provision of locally-produced fresh food from smallholder farmers.

Germany is an important donor to WFP in Zambia. Following a US$320,000 contribution to WFP’s drought response in 2019, the German Federal Foreign Office contributed US$2.1 million in support of refugees residing in the country earlier this year.

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