FAO Namibia, with facilitation support from the FAO’s Emergency Management Centre for Animal Health (EMC-AH), held two national training workshops on Livestock Emergency Guidelines and Standards (LEGS) from 12-18 September in Otjiwarongo. The training aimed to build the capacity of 42 agriculture extension officers from the Ministry of Agriculture Water and Forestry (MAWF) Directorate of Agricultural Extension and Engineering Services (DAPEES), to better manage and protect the livestock assets and livelihoods of agro-pastoralists affected by humanitarian crises such as drought. The agricultural extension officers were trained on the principles, knowledge and skills of emergency preparedness, response and recovery to humanitarian crises and animal health emergencies.

“The Ministry has a response plan being implemented, however this training will allow the extension staff to identify gaps and make recommendations. At the same time they will be able to best advice farmers on the ground how to survive the current drought we are facing”, said Ben Haraseb, MAWF Deputy Director DAPES. He noted that, “All the regions are not affected in the same way and each extension officer will have to adopt a method of assisting the farmers, with whom they interact every day.”

During the training participants worked on case studies, shared experiences from the field, were provided with the LEGS Handbook, and the FAO Manual on Livestock-related interventions during emergencies. The training comes at a time when Southern Africa faces evolving climatic patterns characterized by cyclic droughts, floods and cyclones. Their scale and complexities demand that all partners on the ground work together to help communities become more resilient to these natural threats. In May 2019 a State of Emergency was declared on account of the ongoing drought, with all 14 regions in Namibia direly affected. In light of the impact of the drought on the food security situation, FAO Namibia has been working with the government and other development partners to build the resilience of the most vulnerable communities, while reducing dependence on food assistance.

The EMC-AH is a joint platform between FAO’s Animal Production and Health Division and Emergency and Resilience Division, which aims to reduce the impact of animal health emergencies. The Centre works to enhance country, regional and international capacity to be better prepared to respond to animal health emergencies. It provides the platform, tools, support and coordination to help increase preparedness and response capacity at all levels. The EMC-AH team also works to identify needs to address for improved prevention, detection and recovery measures.