Manx government donates £1.3m climate change aid to Burundi

The Manx government has donated more than £1.3m to a charity working in an area of Africa "combatting the effects" of climate change.

The International Development Partnership (IDP) has awarded Send a Cow the funds for projects in Burundi.

Richard Granville, the charity's programme funding manager, said the money would go towards a "vital two-year project" in "hilly, rural Mwaro".

The government commits an annual total of £2.5m to international aid.

Climate change was one of two themes chosen by the IDP for donations for 2021-2023.

Chief Minister Howard Quayle said: "The [coronavirus] pandemic has shown us how globally connected we are and I am delighted that the Isle of Man can support this important work."

Mr Granville said Burundi was already "feeling the severe impact of climate change" as 94% of the population "depends on small-scale, rain-fed agriculture".

Domothile Niyonzima, 43, lives in Mwaro Province and said: "The main issue is that we don't have enough food, because we have no manure to fertilise our land."

Unicef estimates that more than 114,000 people in Burundi have been displaced by climate change-related disasters.

Country Director for Send a Cow Burundi Gloria Nimpundu said the charity helped farmers with "water availability and good quality soil" and was having "significant impact".

She said "increasingly erratic and unreliable rainfall patterns" made it hard to "plan harvests and planting seasons".

"In recent years, droughts have ruined crops and flash floods have washed entire crops away.

The Mwaro project would help 5,250 households "to become financially resilient in the face of the climate crisis, by practising climate-smart crop and livestock farming", she added.

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