The Nordic Development Fund (NDF) has approved a EUR 10 million grant for a climate resilience project in African Zambia. The grant will support the EUR 120 million ‘Transforming Landscapes for Resilience and Development II’ project (TRALARD II), led by the World Bank, according to a NDF press release.
Zambia, a landlocked country in Southern Africa, faces some of the highest deforestation and land degradation rates on the continent. Charcoal production, poor farming practices, wildfires, and illegal logging drive the destruction. Over 60% of Zambia’s population lives below the poverty line, with rural communities particularly vulnerable to climate impacts, while depending heavily on rainfed farming and natural resource extraction, leaving them exposed when weather patterns change.
TRALARD II aims to improve natural resource management and to boost food security and watershed protection. The activities will focus on creating jobs in agriculture and forestry while strengthening community participation, with women, youth, and people with disabilities being the main target for empowerment programs.
“In Zambia, this project not only protects the natural resources and the people depending on it, but also fosters social inclusion and gender equality,” said Ole Stubdrup, Program Manager at NDF.
NDF’s EUR 10 million grant is part of EUR 120 million in total funding for the project. The Nordic Development Fund – a joint Nordic international finance institution (IFI) with a EUR 350 million capital, is focusing on the nexus between climate change and development in lower-income countries, and countries in fragile situations focuses on lower-income countries and areas facing conflict or instability.
