Urgent support to pastoral communities and farmers as a drought response

The specific objectives were to:

• enable 30 094 drought-affected households in Oromia and Somali regions to access sufficient improved drought- and disease-resistant seeds to plant 0.5 ha of land each;
• improve household crop production and diversity for 2 255 families by distributing root crop planting materials;
• improve veterinary service delivery by supporting livestock vaccination and treatment campaigns in identified hotspot areas of Somali and Afar regions; and
• strengthen the capacity of existing public and private animal health service delivery systems in Somali and Afar regions.

Main project activities: 

• Procurement and distribution of inputs. A total of 623.3 tonnes of crop seeds were procured and distributed to beneficiary households. Of these, 519.3 tonnes were maize seed, 5.5 tonnes were sorghum seed, 60 tonnes were wheat seed, 38.15 tonnes were haricot bean seed and 280 kg were tomato seed. Furthermore, 600 kg of sorghum, 1 500 kg of triticale, 500 kg of haricot bean and 39 kg of cowpea seeds were procured and distributed to outgrowers for seed multiplication in Amhara region. The project also procured and delivered 55 000 sweet potato cuttings to the agriculture offices in two woredas for the multiplication of planting materials and creation of permanent planting material production sites. The seed varieties distributed were: (i) local and katumani maize, (ii) HR 1 685 wheat, (iii) gambella sorghum; and (iv) Mexican 142 haricot beans. In addition, awasa 88, kudade and ogansegen sweet potatoes, sinan triticale, gubye sorgum, and haricot Awash melka haricot bean varieties were delivered to Amhara region for seed multiplication. Roman vf variety of tomato seeds  were distributed to Somali region. The crops were selected by woreda, based on their importance to the local food consumption habits, suitability to the local situation, experience of farmers or agropastoralists in growing the crops, farmers’ choices and the economic potential of the crops.
• Procurement and distribution of farm tools.  The project procured four types of farm tools during the extension period, following a request from the Somali Livestock Crop and Natural Resource Development Bureau (LCNRDB) and Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development . A total of 7 100 tools were procured, of which 1 800 were hoes, 1 800 were shovels, 1 700 were pickaxes and 1 800 were sickles.
• Procurement and distribution of veterinary drugs and vaccines. Livestock drugs and vaccines were purchased for animal health campaigns, the establishment of private veterinary pharmacies and equipping community-based animal health workers. The regional LCNRDBs were responsible for organizing the campaigns.