Malawi has received $11.2 million insurance payout from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the African Risk Capacity (ARC) Group to help in recovery after being hit by a devastating drought.
The funds will support food assistance to an estimated 235,000 households in Malawi’s Lower Shire and Southern regions and cash transfers to 118,000 households in the country’s Central region.
“This payout will enable us to provide immediate relief, ensuring that no Malawian suffers the worst forms of hunger due to the recent dry spell conditions,” said President Lazarus Chakwera.
The payment was made as part of Malawian government’s drought insurance policy and was financed by AfDB through its African Development Fund and its Africa Disaster Risk Financing (ADRiFi) Programme Multi-Donor Trust Fund.
“The devastating El-Nino-driven southern African drought underscores the critical need for preparedness in the face of escalating weather-related disasters,” said Ibrahima Cheikh Diong, UN Assistant Secretary General and ARC Group Director General.
The ADRiFi Trust Fund is a collaboration between the Bank Group and the ARC Group, an Agency of the African Union that supports African governments to improve their capacities to better plan, prepare, and respond to extreme weather events and natural disasters.
ARC Group expects to pay a total of $62 million in disaster risk insurance payouts to El Niño-impacted countries in Southern Africa by September 2024.
Countires targeted include Malawi with a total of $11.6 million in insurance payout, Mozambique $5.5 million, Zambia $13.3 million and Zimbabwe $31.8 million.
