The Board of Directors of the African Development Group, approved a project in the amount of USD 125 million for the first phase of the drought resilience project and provision of long-lasting means of subsistence to populations in the Horn of Africa.

Three countries, Djibouti, Ethiopia and Kenya as well as the Igad secretariat are concerned by the first phase of this regional project funded way of loans and grants provided by the African Development Fund (ADF) beginning 2013.

The ADF grants amount to USD 15 million for Djibouti 7 million dollars for the Igad secretariat. The ADF loans of 46 et 56 million dollars respectively to Ethiopia and to Kenya, will go to support activities aimed at restoring the means of subsistence of the populations through investments in natural resources management (water grazing grounds), land integrated management, restoration and protection of the ecosystem as well as agriculture and livestock infrastructure.

The project will equally contribute in the improvement of storage, marketing and transportation facilities such as rural roads. The object is to set on the deeper causes of the region's vulnerability in order to build resilience in the face of medium and long-term drought periods, consolidate peace and promote the equitable use of limited natural resources.

Certain drought prone regions are concerned by the project ; Beyya Dader, Gaggade-Derela and Weimar in Djibouti, Afar and Somali in Ethiopia, and Baringo, Isiolo, Marsabit, Samburu, Turkana and West Pokot, six arid and semi-arid regions in Kenya. According to estimates, the project will benefit 12 million people, 98 million cattle and 173 million sheep and goats that are victims to drought.

The implementation of the inclusive green programme will have a deep-rooted environmental and socio-economic impact in these regions.