Responding to the increasing risk of drought: building gender-responsive resilience of the most vulnerable communities

Providing rural communities with critical water supplies for year-round drinking water and small-scale irrigation to address risks of drought and other climate impacts.

Ethiopia is projected to experience drought conditions worsened by climate change, and the country’s exposure to drought and floods is heavily influenced by the El Niño/La Niña phenomenon. In 2015 to 2016 Ethiopia experienced one of its worst droughts in decades. Climate change impacts are likely to increase temperatures, create greater rainfall variability with more frequent extremes, and change the nature of seasonal rainfalls.

Introducing improved water supply and management systems will increase local communities’ productive capacity as well as the water ecosystem’s carrying capacity. The three main activities will be introducing solar-powered water pumping and small-scale irrigation, the rehabilitation and management of degraded lands around the water sources, and creating an enabling environment by raising awareness and improving local capacity. Over 50% of the beneficiaries will be women, with 30% of households being female-headed.

The project has an estimated lifespan of 5 years.