The project supported the vaccination of over 4 million sheep and goats in Afar and Somali regions as well as the lowland zones of Oromia and SNNPR in 2016/17.

20 September 2017, Addis Ababa - The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the Federal Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries (MoLF) have reaffirmed their commitment to the eradication of peste des petits ruminants (PPR) from the pastoral lowland areas of Ethiopia.  

Speaking at the Third National Coordination Workshop of the EC-Supporting Horn of Africa Resilience Pursuing Pastoralist Resilience (EC-SHARE Project), H.E. Dr. Misrak Mekonnen, State Minister of Animal Health and Feed Regulatory Sector of MoLF said, “Each and every EC-SHARE Project stakeholder must coordinate to detect the disease and respond immediately to prevent the spread of PPR.”   

Regional veterinary laboratories and coordination bodies must in particular ramp up efforts to eliminate the disease from PPR endemic pastoral areas of the country, she added.

The EU-funded Project has benefited pastoralists and agro-pastoralists in Somali, Afar, Oromia and SNNP regions through concerted veterinary extension and vaccination campaigns since 2016.

The project supported the vaccination of over 4 million sheep and goats in Afar and Somali regions as well as the lowland zones of Oromia and SNNPR in 2016/17.

The EU-SHARE Project is aggressively working on strengthening its disease surveillance and reporting systems, enhancing the skills of responsible organs in disease detection and response, and undertaking focused vaccination efforts through active involvement of partners.

Availability of resources and the commitment of federal and regional livestock authorities are good opportunities to build the implementation capacity of MoLF for successful results and documenting good practices and lessons learned from the Project for future interventions.

Dr. Misrak also commended, “We need to responsibly implement the EU-SHARE Project, further build our capacity and properly document lessons learned for future use”.

EC-SHARE Project is financially supported by the European Union with the aim to support the Government of Ethiopia in strengthening the disease surveillance system of trans-boundary animal diseases including  PPR, Sheep and Goat Pox [SGP], Contagious Caprine Pleuro-Pneumonia [CCPP] and Foot-and-Mouth Disease [FMD]) while the control efforts focus primarily on PPR and SGP.

For further information, please contact,

Yonas Tafesse, [email protected], Extension Communications Officer, Pursuing Pastoralists Resilience in the Lowland Pastoral Areas of Ethiopia Project.