Addis Ababa — Ethiopia has been awarded US $86 million in loans and grants from the African Development Bank to help tackle migration to urban areas from rural communities.

Theodore Nkodo, a vice president at the ADB, said the bank was backing three projects aimed at combating entrenched poverty in the country.

Ethiopia is witnessing a massive urban population explosion as families move from rural areas to cities to try and make a better living.

The country, which is reeling from a severe food crisis, is facing one of the highest migrations from villages to cities in Africa.

Urban population growth in Ethiopia is increasing at around six percent a year compared to other sub-Saharan countries where growth rates are rising by four percent.

The funding is part of an ADB scheme to "make financial services accessible to the rural poor and to further strengthen the rural financial infrastructure".

It includes a US $32 million development project to upgrade the 157 km Wach to Maji road and open up credit for rural farmers.

And it is financing a major study aimed at harnessing the potential of the Awash River basin - which is home to more than 10 million people - and to prevent devastating flooding.

In a statement, Nkodo said that the projects would help boost rural enterprises and reduce rural urban migration.

"These interventions are consistent with the Bank Group's Country Strategy for Ethiopia and will contribute immensely to poverty reduction," he stated.