. KANDETA

By JULIUS PHIRI  –
THE Nordic Development Fund (NDF) has committed €2.25 million over the next three years to support the development and integration of climate resilience planning in Zambia.
The funds will go towards field testing and rolling out technologies for climate proofing of rural water supply and sanitation, with the aim of improving access to reliable services in as many as 80 communities in the rural water sector in Western Province.
Ministry of Finance public relations officer Chileshe Kandeta said in a statement yesterday that the Government and the NDF signed a grant agreement to strengthen climate resilience in the rural water sector in Western Province.
NDF programme manager Charles Wetherill said the money would go towards field testing and rolling out technologies for climate proofing rural water supply and sanitation.
“The project will also scale up the production and use of results data and integrate it into water sector planning at the national level,” Mr Wetherill said.
Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda said the project, which would be implemented by the Ministry of Local Government and Housing, complemented the water and sanitation project, which the African Development Bank was financing in Western Province under the umbrella of the second phase of the National Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Programme.
“This agreement with the Nordic Development Fund represents a concrete commitment towards building a more climate-resilient economy in Zambia,” Mr Chikwanda said.
He said Zambia was indebted to the NDF whose support since 1997 had amounted to more than €30 million in support to the country.
The deal between Zambia and NDF took place soon after the recently-held 2015 COP21 Climate Conference in Paris, France, where climate resilience was high on the agenda.
NDF is a joint development finance institution of Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.
Its mandate is to support innovative advances in climate change adaptation and mitigation in developing countries.