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Protecting the pastoral and agro-pastoral livelihoods of communities in drought affected regions of Ethiopia through innovative feed interventions

Tags
Countries Ethiopia
Start date 31/07/2017
End date 17/01/2019
Status Completed
Donor Belgium
Recipient / Target Areas Ethiopia
Budget 500 000 USD
Project Code OSRO/ETH/704/BEL
Objective / Goal The overall objective of this project is to improve the food, nutrition and income security of pastoral and agro-pastoral communities in Ethiopia.
Beneficiaries 36 000
Activities

The project’s activities enhanced pastoral and agropastoral resilience in the Borena Zone and promoted more nutritious feeding practices, thereby contributing to improved nutrition and livelihoods in the five targeted woredas.

Output 1 included the following activities:

  • livestock mortality mitigated among 6 000 drought-affected pastoral and agropastoral households in the Borena zone of Ethiopia, through provision of emergency supplementary feed and animal health services;
  • a total of 4 200 quintals of total mixed rations – composed of supplementary concentrate feed, agricultural by-products (molasses) and roughage (hay, straw and alfalfa) – was purchased and delivered to the project distribution sites, amounting to 840 quintals for each of the five targeted woredas;
  • furthermore, 45 000 sachets of diminazene (a drug against the disease Trypanosomiasis and also used as a prophylaxis) were procured along with 14 500 vials of PenStrep, an antibiotic that treats a range of diseases.
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Lessons learned and elements of success:

  • Considering the nature of the inputs at the design stage of the project, their timely procurement and delivery is essential.
  • Communication between transporters, the FAO focal point and the woreda focal point should be frequent throughout the delivery.
  • In some feeding centres there was reluctance from development agents and some extension workers to prepare the feed packages, as they had no information about the benefits and this type of feed was new to them. With information and training acceptance slowly increased.