FAO’s water and income diversification projects have become instrumental to tackle the negative impacts of El Niño induced drought for pastoral and agro-pastoral communities in the Afar Region of north eastern Ethiopia. FAO supports the Afar regional government’s effort to improve the livelihood of pastoral and semi-pastoral households through animal and crop production, animal health and feed, water supply for livestock, crop and fodder based irrigation and livelihood diversifications. These projects have partly built the resilience of the local communities against natural hazards like the ongoing drought which affected nearly half a million people in the region.