WB approves $35 mln for Kenyan marine development

The World Bank has approved 35 million U.S. dollars credit to help Kenya promote environmentally sustainable management of its coastal and marine resources.

The Kenya Coastal Development Project will also benefit from a 5 million dollars Global Environment Facility (GEF) grant to strengthen conservation and sustainable use of marine and coastal biodiversity.

"Kenyans living in Coast province are among the poorest in the country, despite the province's considerable potential for economic growth from tourism, fisheries and other investments," Johannes Zutt, the World Bank country director for Kenya, said on Wednesday.

He said the project will help to increase economic opportunities for coastal communities by promoting environmentally- sustainable tourism and fisheries, equitable sharing of tourism and fisheries revenues, and investment in rural micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises.

Zutt said the project will promote sustainable management of tourism and fisheries resources in line with the government's Vision 2030, which identifies tourism as an engine of growth, job creation, poverty reduction and wealth generation in the Coastal region. "It will support governance reforms of fisheries management in an exclusive economic zone and promote research in near-shore fish stocks to increase sustainable and profitable fishing practices," he said in a statement issued in Nairobi.

The project will also improve the management and regeneration of natural resources and biodiversity of the Coastal and marine environments, reflecting the environmental sustainability theme of the bank's Country Partnership Strategy for Kenya, which was endorsed by the Board in April 2010.

"These objectives will be complemented by sustainable livelihoods in a sound governance framework including spatial planning and land capability mapping, integrated coastal management and compliance with regulations and safeguards," said William Leeds Lane, the project's Task Team Leader.

The project will also promote dialogue amongst national partners and regional stakeholders, and establish a Community Village Fund to build capacity of micro projects through grants.

This investment is the first in a series planned by the government, bank and other development partners to improve the economic viability of Kenya's Coast and increase economic opportunities for the estimated 2.5 million people in the region.

The credit is provided on standard terms of the International Development Association (IDA), the bank's concessionary lending arm, which include a 10-year grace period and a 40-year maturity period.

Source: Xinhua