The Nordic Development Fund supports a 4-year initiative to help Zambia’s road infrastructure sector

The Nordic Development Fund (NDF) supports a 4-year initiative to help catapult Zambia’s road infrastructure sector into a much more sustainable future. The project applies a systematic integration of climate change adaption and resilience considerations throughout the road and transport sector’s design and management processes, enabling the Zambian road transport sector to continue to develop in a sustainable way. Particular focus is placed on developing the relevant capacity and skills of the road transport sector stakeholders, including policy makers, decision makers and transport sector engineers and civil servants.

NDF’s Program Manager, Mr. Aage Jorgensen visited Lusaka as the first project year was coming to an end. During his visit, he assessed the progress made to date and the initial impact of the project on the Zambian Road Transport Sector.

Within the next 3 years, the project team, working in close collaboration with the Road Development Agency and all key stakeholders in the sector will develop climate change policy and institutional strengthening recommendations for consideration by the government. The project will also draw on global, regional and local experience and innovations to deliver adaptation and mitigation recommendations for road design, construction, and maintenance in the form of revised guidelines, codes, and standards. Concurrently, the Project will use networking, consultation and training to mainstream project findings into road transport and inter-modal sector operations that will enhance national resilience and adaptation to climate change.

It is expected that the impact of this Project will be able to assess the climate risk of some 5,500 km of the road network which is considered most vulnerable to climate variability and change. The Project will similarly assess the vulnerability of approximately half of Zambia’s population (as many as 8 million people) that the initial Climate Vulnerability assessment indicates may be at direct or indirect risk from climate impacts on the national road network.

Original source: NDF
Published on 30 May 2018