This campaign has now closed
Pastoralists are nomadic livestock herders. Ethiopian pastoralists live in remote areas where droughts are increasing in frequency. Rather than waiting for the onset of an emergency, FARM-Africa is working with pastoralist communities in South Omo, Ethiopia, to establish early warning systems and help them to prepare for droughts and respond immediately.
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Beneficiaries
Situation
The pastoralist areas of Ethiopia are among those with the highest rates of poverty and lowest human development indices in the country. Droughts are increasing in frequency and often result in widespread loss of livestock and therefore acute food and income insecurity for pastoralists. FARM-Africa is working with pastoralist communities to monitor the different stages of the drought cycle (normal, alert, emergency and recovery) and plan their activities so that their vulnerability to drought is reduced. Pastoralists identify drought indicators (such as high winds, change in colour of Acacia trees, certain cloud patterns, reduced grass coverage and lowered water table at existing water points) and set up early warning information and monitoring systems which link with district and regional authorities. Designated disaster monitors are selected by the communities and trained, so that they can record information and feed this into district and regional systems to provide invaluable information “from the ground”. In 2009 the project will work to reduce the vulnerability of over 60,000 pastoralists through the following activities: - Establishing rainwater harvesting systems and underground cisterns. These are filled during the rainy season to be used during the dry season or in prolonged droughts; - Setting up small scale irrigation systems, enabling pastoralists to diversify livelihoods by growing crops near the South Omo river; - Other water preparedness activities include construction of earth dams and water ponds; - Livestock vaccination campaigns and emergency treatment to maintain animal health; - Training on petty trading and livestock marketing to help pastoralists build income security; - Provision of goats and seeds to those households who lost assets in previous droughts. By setting up early warning systems and enabling pastoralists to prepare for droughts FARM-Africa is helping communities in some of the most challenging environments to survive, and improve their food and income security.