Emergency livelihood support to drought-affected farming communities in Afar and Somali Regions in Ethiopia

Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources (MoANR), Disaster Risk Management Agriculture Task Force (DRM–ATF) members, the Somali Region Livestock Crop and Rural Development Bureau and the Afar Region Pastoral and Agricultural Development Bureau.

• Brought together key stakeholders for regular DRM–ATF meetings, including government actors, UN agencies, NGOs and donor agencies engaged in humanitarian agricultural assistance to share information, coordinate activities, conduct joint assessments, etc.
• Assisted ATF partners to prepare for and respond to El Niño-induced drought impacts, as well as acted as a mechanism for coordinating and harmonizing approaches.
• Identified and prioritized the types of interventions required where they were most needed together with Government partners, with the main aim of protecting agricultural livelihoods.
• Established specialized emergency working groups under the DRM–ATF focusing on emergency seed and livestock response, respectively, as well as a Strategic Advisory Group.
• Produced technical guidance notes and presented information on good practices and challenges to develop and share replicable solutions and recommendations for the overall response.
• Organized regular response review sessions, closely following partners’ progress through “who is doing what where” exercises to ensure gaps were filled and complementarity enhanced.
• Supported the conducting of countrywide seasonal assessments (post-belg and -meher) that fed into the development of humanitarian response planning in the agriculture sector.
• Established a cooperative in Erer woreda of Somali Region to produce multinutrient blocks (MNBs), providing the equipment, tools and ingredients necessary for immediate start-up.
• Distributed 64 400 MNBs produced by the new cooperative and existing ones through a voucher system to 4 079 households, benefiting about 2 500 cattle and 28 790 small ruminants.
• Provided 150 agropastoral households with fodder seed to promote local feed cultivation.