Drought rapid response in Oromia and Somali Regions

The food security situation in Southern Ethiopia continues to deteriorate following the poor performance of the 2021 Gu/Genna and Deyr rains, resulting in severe harvest losses, poor livestock performance, and increasing cases of malnutrition. Over 800 000 people are estimated to be food insecure in the Daawa zone of Somali Region and Borena zone of Oromia Region following the drought conditions in southern Ethiopia. In view of this, FAO requires USD 2.5 million to mobilize urgent early response to the current needs of the drought-affected communities in Southern Ethiopia.

The proposed interventions, will be organized into two outputs:

• Output 1: Access to livestock feed and water for core breeding and milking animals in drought affected areas of Oromia and Somali regions enhanced. The activities will aim to restore availability of water and feed through water trucking, provision of supplementary feed, improved forage seeds, Cash+ package and extension services thereby contributing to household food and nutrition security. The cash package will enable them to meet immediate family needs and mitigate negative coping mechanisms. As an anticipatory action, the forage seeds will be limited to households with access to irrigation facilities. They will be expected to produce fodder to ensure feed availability through the lean season.
• Output 2: Access to animal health services improved. Activities to be undertaken will include vaccination of animals and treatment of animals with anthelminthic, acaricide and multi-vitamins. Vaccination services will prevent spread and outbreak of major transboundary animal diseases (TADs) as the animals crowd around limited water resources. The treatment services will maximize the impact of emergency feed supplementation and protect animals at risk of being infected by trypanosomes. Hence, both services will address immediate needs and be part of anticipatory actions for future drought conditions. The animal health services will be coupled with a refresher training to Community Animal Health Worker s (CAHWs) and woreda animal health staff.