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Africa developing new tools to build resilience to future drought shocks

Droughts have decimated communities and livelihoods in Africa for long. This year alone, over 45 million people across Africa, mostly in Eastern and Southern Africa, are food insecure due to prolonged droughts. The Africa Risk Capacity (ARC) and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) announced they will collaborate to support the development of financial tools to help Africa to adapt and become resilient to future drought and other extreme weather events. The partnership will support African countries in managing the impact of extreme weather events, including drought. It will also seek to leverage private sector resources through the development of new financial instruments that can provide insurance protection and other funding to mitigate these risks.