MANILA, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Tuesday said it has approved a 32-million-U.S. dollar financing package to strengthen Laos' response to climate change and improve the livelihoods of agricultural communities in Vientiane and the central provinces of Bolikhamxai and Khammouan.
The ADB said the Flood and Drought Mitigation and Management Sector Project will help Laos in its efforts to reduce financial and economic losses from floods and droughts and enhance dietary diversity.
The project aims to promote economic diversification by expanding high-value crops, creating jobs to absorb the surplus agricultural workforce, improving the business-enabling environment, and generating foreign exchange and domestic tax revenues by expanding agricultural exports, added the ADB.
Laos is highly vulnerable to extreme weather events, including floods and droughts, estimated to reduce the country's gross domestic product by up to 2 percent annually. Extreme heat is leading to increasingly lower rice yields in the dry season due to declining water availability, higher crop water requirements, and poor soil health. ■