MANILA -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is providing a $2 million grant for the formulation and implementation of land degradation policies and to reduce the vulnerability to climate change of target developing members, the bank said on Wednesday.
"Investing in agriculture and natural resource research is an essential means of reducing poverty and stimulating agricultural and economic growth, through improvements in productivity. In Asia, one of the most urgent and rewarding areas for research is to develop effective technologies, institutions and policies to deal with environmental changes due to land degradation and climate change," said Tun Lin, natural resources economist of ADB's East Asia Department.
The project, the 12th Agriculture and Natural Resources Research at International Agricultural Research Centers estimated to cost 2.863 million dollars, has three components each targeting a select group of developing members, said the multilateral development finance institution in a press release.
The first component will be for China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The component will involve analysis of existing land use policy and institutional and environmental factors that influence land degradation.
The second component targets Bangladesh, China, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It will involve analysis of climate variability and its impact on cropping pattern, structures of income and employment, adaptation-coping strategies for the rural poor, and identification of best practices and institutional innovations to lessen the effects of climate change.
