Reducing the vulnerability of Afar pastoral and agropastoral communities to recurrent drought

The specific objectives were to:

• increase the availability of milk and/or income in 2 750 vulnerable households through capacity building, provision of supplementary livestock feed, and promotion of prosopis pod harvesting technology;
• strengthen the animal health delivery system through immunization of 1.8 million sheep/goats belonging to 60 000 households against peste des petits ruminants and sheep and goat pox;
• consolidate collection and analysis of serum samples for disease surveillance;
• establish and build the capacity of 15 private pharmacies, and provide refresher training to 100 community animal health workers; and
• increase water access for livestock and fodder/crop production for about 3 000 pastoral and agropastoral households through the rehabilitation of water points, and maintenance of irrigation canals and structures.

The project components were:

• Livestock feed.
  Livestock keepers in drought-affected woredas, households in prosopis-infested areas and multinutrient block (MNB) Producer Cooperatives benefited from the feed intervention. The beneficiaries were identified through the committee established at the level of the pastoral association (PA) or kebele. For the majority of the target kebeles, the committee was composed of community leaders, PA chair, women and youth representatives, and a development agent. The committee selected the beneficiaries based on agreed criteria, which focused on gender, degree of vulnerability and number and class of animals owned. Across the board, women-headed, elderly, and the poorest households (possessing few heads of animals) were prioritized to receive the feed support. FAO  implemented the feed-related activities (emergency feeding and skill enhancement) through the Woreda Pastoral and Rural Development Office (WPARDOs), Afar Pastoral and Agro-pastoral Research Institute (APARI) and Agro-pastoral and Rural Development Bureau (APARDB). During the project period, FAO facilitated at least one participatory monitoring and experience exchange visit. Efforts were also made to document the immediate impacts of the emergency feeding.
• Animal health
  The livestock health intervention, particularly the vaccination activities and community-based animal health workers training, were implemented in collaboration with the WPARDOs. Veterinary drugs and inputs were distributed through  APARDB. This approach was preferred as it ensured the distribution of these to the most vulnerable households. The training of selected animal health personnel on small business management was organized and implemented by FAO in consultation with APARDB and the WPARDOs. Private veterinary drug shops were established following the signing of Memorandums of Understanding between FAO, APARDB and the private veterinary drug vendors. The WPARDOs and kebele administrations were actively involved in the selection of members of the three community-managed disaster risk reduction groups.
  
• Livestock and crop water supply
  The water component included the rehabilitation/construction of livestock water points and small-scale irrigation schemes for selected pastoral and agropastoral communities that had been prioritized by the region. These project components were led by the regional authorities and communities. Under this component, various farm tools and construction materials were procured. The construction materials were used to rehabilitated community-owned irrigation infrastructure, while farm tools were later provided to the beneficiary agropastoral communities.