Changes in the Omo Valley

Improved Agricultural Solutions (IAS) Project, initiated and funded by DFID, is supported by FAO with the coordination of overall implementation process, technical backstopping, guidance and facilitations. VSF Germany implemented IAS project in Dasenech Wereda, South Omo Zone, SNNP Regional State. The wereda shares border with Kenya in South West and is inhabited by about 63,000 people of eight different clans.

Dasenech are generally very traditional community, and make a living from small farming and looking after animals. Despite the availability of cultivable land in Dasenech, there is low productivity of crop cultivation due to low precipitation, erratic nature and unreliability of rainfall. Livestock serves as a main source of food and income, wealth accumulation, and social prestige.

However, recurrent droughts, pasture shortage, prevalence of livestock diseases, and other challenges have made life difficult for the communities. Moreover, lack of working capital, limited their ability to involve in optional means of living. During rainy seasons, floods, and water erosion and inter-communal conflict over limited natural resources (water and pasture) are not far from these communities.

During drought, Dasenech women and girls are the most affected as the responsibility to care for children, elderly and heads of cattle that survived the drought situation falls on their shoulder. To make it worse, women have limited control over productive assets or resources and less access to services. Since several years ago, all these interwoven problems have exposed the Dasenech pastoral and agro-pastoral communities to chronic food shortage, very poor income, poor infrastructure, deteriorated health conditions and dire living conditions.

Priority for Dasenech

To help address these multifaceted challenges, FAO and partners put in place a project that focuses on building the resilience of the communities by improving crop production through improved technologies, and strengthening livelihood diversifications. The smallholder farmers participated in their priority activities, including improved farming practices through small-scale irrigation and fishery. Women-headed families are the focus of the project, whereby they have access to activities that help generate income and ensure their food security.

What has improved

Lives of the beneficiary communities have been improved as their income options have brought good returns for the communities. Community members’ wrong misconception about fishery has changed and those involved in the fishery have benefitted as income and family diet. Irrigation facilities through the use of windmills and water pumps have benefitted the communities to boost their food production, and introduction of grain mills relieved women and girls of domestic burden. Additionally, school enrolment rate has increased as communities’ incomes have improved.

Irrigation and farming practice

Omo River Valley bank is blessed with favourable soils for irrigation and agriculture. However, Dasenech and other communities do ineffective traditional farming practice to grow crops. Crop seeds of maize and sorghum are placed in small holes made by wooden hooks, and they leave with their livestock for another location and return when it is ready to harvest.

Based on need and interest, 112 semi-pastoral community members including 22 women were identified with the help of wereda Pastoral Development Office and given capacity-building training on improved irrigation agriculture practice. The irrigation facility is wind-mill powered pumps. Twenty-two wind mills were renovated to be functional and community members and local level government technical staff were provided training on minor maintenance of the windmills with the tools to do the maintenance. Five diesel powered water pumps provide backup during possible failure and maintenance of the wind mills. Once suitable irrigation plots of land were identified and prepared, fruit, vegetable, forage and grain seeds and seedlings were provided for the farming communities to plant. Tekabel Achaka, 53 lives in sirmrate village. He used to rely on a few livestock only as a means of living. Since he participated in the project 11 months before, he has started using water from Omo River through windmill-powered irrigation facility and growing crops for own consumption and local market to make income.

Small-scale fishery

Omo River and Turkana Lake provided great potential for fishing for Dasenech communities. However, because of the misconception that fishing is the job of the poorest people who cannot afford livestock, and lack of proper skill and tools for fishing, the practice was untapped to serve the local communities. With the aim of promoting small-scale fishery as a means of livelihood diversification, 50 households (formed into 10 fishery groups) were given training to improve their fishing practice, and fishing tools including wooden fishing boats each with 52 tilapia fishing nets. The members were equipped with the skills of fishing net maintenance and repairing, fish slaughtering, hygiene and business skill.

Fishing created an alternative means of livelihood generated additional income and improved family food consumption. The community members sell their fish to primary buyers, who add values on tilapia fish and sell in small towns in Kenya. Most of the fishermen supported by the project were able to build new livestock assets, pay for healthcare, and buy food, school stationery and other needs of their families. Yerbur Lokuaruk, a project participant and a father of six managed to make ETB 7 416 within five months of the project inception. With the money he bought food and clothes for his family and bought additional fishing nets.